Rumors
by Jenni N
Summary: Rumors are hurtful. And especially if it breaks your heart. A story unfolds to the point where rivalry and jealousy leads to. Be warned, the ending will be rather tearful for the emotional, which includes even me.
1. The Prologue

Emma gazed at her paper fondly, doodling the initials 'E T'. She drew little hearts around the letters and connected them with beautiful elegant vines.

A few girls walked by but she paid no attention to them. One of the girls did. The girl walked by with her friends and noticed the initials. She looked away quickly, wondering who has a first name starting with 'E' and a last name ending with 'T', other than Emma herself.

"Hey," she said in a hushed voice to her friends. "Do any of you know a boy who has the initials 'E' and 'T'?"

Her friends shook their heads.

"Why'd you ask?" one of them said.

The girl glanced back at Emma and her friends followed her gaze. "Maybe she's just doodling her own initials, stupid." one of her friends joked.

"Uh huh," the girl said sarcastically. "Inside a heart with an arrow piercing it with other hearts bordering it with vines around it? That's highly unlikely."

They wandered off to another table, not knowing that Emma had just added a plus sign in between the letters 'E' and 'T'.


	2. Chapter One

The girl had already told the initial story to all of her friends, still wondering who has the initials 'E.T'. Of course, there's Emma herself, but she was looking for a boy with those initials.

"Do you know a boy with the initials 'E.T'?" she asked her three friends from the drama department. They _have _to know someone.

"No, sorry." one of them said as she put away her books in the coat room. "Ask a teacher. Maybe one of them know."

Instead, the girl went to one of Emma's friends. Olivia Vertigo, who was further down the coat room talking to a friend, would be the first person to start with.

"Olivia," the girl said.

Olivia Vertigo looked up and smiled. Her bright blue hair stood out amidst the purple capes. "Hey, your name is...Sarah, right?"

Sarah nodded. "Can I talk to you really quickly?"

Olivia looked up at her friend. "It's okay. Talk to you at lunch." the friend said. The friend walked off and Olivia turned to face Sarah.

"So, what's up?"

"Olivia, do you know any boy with the initials 'E.T'?"

Olivia grinned. "I know the alien is named that."

"No, I meant a real boy, one who attends Bloor's." Sarah said quickly.

Olivia cocked her head. "None that I know of." she said. "Why?"

Sarah wondered if she could trust Olivia. Emma and Olivia were best friends and she wasn't sure if Olivia could keep a secret.

"No reason." she said finally when the hunting horn sounded through out the school, alerting the students for first period.

Olivia shrugged apologetically and flounced off, her purple cape bellowing out from behind.

Sarah sighed. _Maybe Charlie Bone knows..._

* * *

Charlie Bone staggered into the classroom in a hurry right as the hunting horn sounded for class to start.

The teacher was absent today and a substitute was in his place. Charlie scurried to his seat and faced forward, breathing out in relief. "No detention so far." he muttered under his breath. "So far so good."

He felt a tap from behind and turned his head around.

"Hi, Charlie."

It was Sarah, the girl who sat behind him. "Oh, hi Sarah." Charlie panted.

"Charlie, do you know any boys with the initials 'E.T'?" Sarah asked in a whisper as the substitute took attendance.

Charlie glanced up in thought. If it was just anyone, he would say Emma, but since she was looking for a boy, his mind drew a blank.

"Sorry Sarah," Charlie sighed.

"No talking!" the substitute, Mr. Wilkins, snapped, looking over his glasses over at Charlie and Sarah.

Charlie turned back around and Sarah sat back in her seat, her mind racing. She would ask Gabriel Silk next.

"Hey Gabriel," she said as soon as lunch started. She was over at the music table, far away from her department table.

Gabriel Silk looked up from his plate. "Yes?"

"Do you happen to know anyone with the initials "E.T?"

Gabriel shook his head and then stopped. "Yeah, Emma Tolly."

"I'm sorry, I meant, a boy with those initials." Sarah stammered.

"Oh." Gabriel continued to shake his head. "Sorry,"

Sarah sighed and went down the table, asking. She'd rather skip lunch than not finding out who's initials those were. At first she was just curious about who it was but that doesn't matter any more. What was driving her crazy was that she couldn't find out who has the initials. She couldn't stand not finding out something. Like in dreams. When you were about to open a door, you wake up, not knowing what was behind the door. It drives you insane until you know.

This is what it was like for her.

She even went up to Dr. Bloor to ask.

"Dr. Bloor," she said timidly. "Do you, by chance, know any boy with the initials 'E.T'?"

Dr. Bloor glanced at her and said sourly, "No, now go eat your lunch."

Sarah scattered off and sat down by her friends. She glanced down the table over at Emma, who was talking to Lysander Sage and Tancred Torsson. She was laughing with them as Tancred told a joke or something.

She'd ask the two boys if they know anyone. Maybe he was in their year.

* * *

"Hey, Emma," a boy called.

Emma turned around and a few boys from her year ran up to her. "Do you know anyone with your initials that's a boy?" they asked.

Emma frowned. "No, why?"

The boys eyed her suspiciously. "You're positive about that?" one of them said.

"I'm sure." she said. "Why are you even asking?"

"Well, I heard someone saying that-" a boy started to say but then the others elbowed him.

"He meant that he heard that someone with those initials, that's a boy, is... um..." another boy said. He glanced over to his friends for back-up.

"Wanted up in the music tower." another boy blurted.

They all nodded.

Emma sighed. She may not be a drama expert but those boys can't come up with a good lie like Olivia could.

"Well, see you around." one of them said.

"Bye Emma," the rest chorused as they walked off.

Emma stared after them. "What was that about?" she wondered aloud as the hunting horn sounded again that day.

* * *

She hurried up to the King's Room later for homework and slowed to a stop in front of the room, where the rest of the endowed were.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Charlie turned around. "Manfred won't let any of us in."

"Not even the bad ones," Billy whispered, his red eyes widening. He glanced behind his back to see if any of the bad endowed heard.

Tancred was knocking on the huge wooden doors. "Open up!" he shouted. "I have an essay due tomorrow and I have no time!"

Lysander sighed. "If you hadn't procrastinated for the last two weeks that she gave you, you could've gotten it done on time."

"Who asked you?"

The doors finally opened and Manfred glared at Tancred, who stood back with his fist up which was ready to pound on the door. He slowly lowered his fist and looked down sheepishly.

"Come on in," Manfred snapped. "And Torsson, I'll have to talk to you after this hour."

Tancred slouched his shoulders in response and plopped down in the first chair. He was officially in a bad mood, for the winds picked up and papers already went flying in whichever direction.

Then he stopped, looking straight ahead. "Who are you?" he asked.

Everyone looked over on the other side of the room. A boy was standing there. He was looking at Tancred, who was staring back at him.

"A new student." Manfred said. "This is Elijah. Make him feel welcomed."

Elijah reluctantly sat down, eying Tancred who was staring right back at him. Like what Tancred does every time there's a new student, he asked, "What's your surname?"

He didn't answer, he just glanced down at the table and his eyes stayed glued there.

People slowly found their seats, Gabriel and Dorcas sitting on either side of him, since no one (but perhaps Manfred) knew whichever side he was on.

To Charlie, Elijah looked shy. It was either that or brooding. Gabriel was looking at Elijah too. "Hey," Gabriel murmured softly to Elijah. "Welcome to Bloor's."

Elijah finally looked up and manage a small smile. "Thank you," he said softly.

The good endowed smiled to themselves. He's friendly, so he must be good.

He looked back down at the table and closed his eyes. Everyone worked on as Manfred inspected Elijah closely. _I'll need to keep an eye on him... _Manfred thought as Elijah grimaced.


	3. Chapter Two

Later, after the endowed finished their homework, they were ready to hit the covers. "Did you know how many books I had to go through?" Tancred was complaining to the others as they walked along the corridors back to the dorms. "Seven, seven stupid books. Who knew that they had so many books on pottery."

"You should've done it earlier when you had plenty of time," Lysander mused.

"Yeah, but then what's the point if you're going to do it early?" Tancred yawned.

"Let's see," Gabriel said, tapping his chin mockingly. "You would be done earlier and, uh, oh! Right...You wouldn't have to do much today."

"Yeah, but I could do that any other day." said Tancred.

"Yeah, while you still have homework," Charlie said.

"Touche, Bone." Tancred muttered.

Everyone laughed. Billy glanced back to see if the new boy, Elijah, was trailing slowly behind them.

He was. He lingered around the walls, eyes fixed on the floor ahead of him. Billy stopped and backtracked back to Elijah.

No one else from the group noticed until they heard Billy's soft voice say, "You know where you're sleeping?"

They turned around and watched before inching over to help.

Elijah was nodding his head slowly, holding his head.

"You have a headache, don't you?" Billy said. "You'll get used to it, spending an hour or two everyday in the King's Room gives you headaches sometimes."

Elijah gave a tiny nod. He didn't look brooding anymore. He looked worried. His eyes widened at little Billy and he flinched.

"Hey, are you okay?" Charlie called, walking quickly up to Elijah and Billy.

Elijah shook his head vigorously. "Sorry," he gasped. He spun around and dashed away back down the hall and around the corner.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Lysander quietly. "I feel sorry for him."

"Maybe it's his endowment," Tancred suggested. "What if he can't hold his power in and he's bursting." He gave a little pause. "Or maybe he has a _really_ bad headache. Mind you I wouldn't blame him. He had to listen to Manfred in the King's Room before we came in remember? No wonder the guy's troubled. Manfred's got to him."

"Tanc," Lysander muttered, shaking his head with a smile.

"It's just a theory." Tancred said defensively.

Emma shook her head. "We'll see how he is tomorrow." she said. "Hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he'll be okay," said Billy, slowly walking back towards the rest of the group.

Charlie followed him, throwing peeks behind his back. He had a feeling of pity and sympathy for Elijah. It bothered him that he couldn't do more to help.

* * *

As Emma walked down to the cafeteria the next morning for lunch, she was suddenly aware of some people looking at her strangely. She frowned to herself. Was there something stuck to her hair? Her shirt? Maybe her cape was put on weirdly or out of order. She sat down and looked at her arms. Nothing there...

She patted her head a little, relieved to find nothing there. So then why were they staring?

Self conscious of herself, she waited where she was, not getting up to get breakfast.

"Em!"

Emma looked up. Olivia and Charlie ran up to her. "Have you heard what's going on?" Olivia asked.

Emma shook her head and glanced into Olivia's shiny red hair. "Erm..."

"That's my expression when I saw it too," Charlie said.

Olivia cast a glare at Charlie and then turned back to Emma. "They're saying that Elijah's a mind controller."

Emma gaped. "Really?" she said. "Is that true or just rumors?"

"No one knows." Olivia breathed. "I heard from Allie who heard from Greta's group who heard from Johnny who heard from one of Elijah's roomies who said that he looked like he was arguing with himself."

Charlie shrugged. "It was as if he had a good side and an evil side. But we don't know if the roommate is making it up."

"Have you seen Elijah though?" asked Emma.

Olivia opened her mouth to say something but she quickly closed it. "Good point,"

Charlie glanced around quickly as the rest of the art students stared at the music and drama student over at the art table. "We might have to leave Liv," Charlie murmured. "We're getting looks and Dr. Bloor's gonna be really mad."

Olivia sighed. "See you in second period Em," she said as she and Charlie left to their own tables, Olivia heading to the middle table and Charlie walking the whole way from the art to the music.

Tancred and Lysander took a seat next to Emma. "Here you go Em," Lysander said, passing a plate to Emma.

"We noticed you didn't look like you had the time to go get breakfast so we got some for you," said Tancred. "I hope you like cinnamon rolls."

Emma smiled. "Thanks guys."

"So..." Lysander said casually. He glanced at Tancred who poked at his bacon, licking his lips. "Have you heard about Elijah?"

Emma nodded her head. "Well, some of it."

"He's a mind controller." said Tancred. "Not a mind reader, but a mind controller. But then if he can control minds then he can pretty much read it if he's the one coming up with all the actions and thoughts." He took a thoughtful bite into his bacon.

"What department is he in anyway?" asked Lysander.

A boy next to Lysander turned around and said, "I heard he's in the music department. I think he plays the piano."

"He does seem like to play the piano." said Tancred.

A girl passed them and glanced at them, stopping. "He plays piano?" she said, puzzled.

"That's what I heard." the boy said.

"But, he's in drama, right?" the girl said.

Tancred and Emma exchanged looks. Lysander cocked his head. "Which table is he sitting at?" he asked.

The five scanned their table and then stood up to look at the other two.

"I don't see him," said Emma, sitting back down and biting into her apple.

The girl shrugged. "Oh well," she went off again and the boy returned to his own friends.

"We'll find out later." said Lysander. "But for now, I'm digging into my cinnamon roll. It's glazed to perfection."

He picked his roll up and eyed it.

Tancred held his up and the two knocked their rolls together and held theirs in front of Emma, who smiled and knocked her roll against theirs.

"Bon appetite." said Tancred.

* * *

It was nighttime at Bloor's. Each and every student was ready to go to sleep. There wasn't a yawn that wasn't to be heard throughout the school or dorms. They snuggled in their blankets and peaceful sleep took over.

Except Emma. Emma lay awake. She tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position. She sat up and sighed. Maybe a drink of water would help. She got up and went to the table near the window and poured a glass of water.

She lifted the glass to take a blissful sip. She gasped when there was a loud thump from outside. It sounded distant.

She glanced around her dorm. Everyone was sound asleep. She rushed to her bed and groped around under it. Her fingers closed in around a cold metal tube-like object. She pulled it out. A flashlight.

Perfect...

She tip toed to the door and exited. She froze so she could listen. No footsteps. Matron wasn't there. That was good. Emma leaned forward and peered down the steps that led to the hallway. The thump came back again. It sounded as if it was near the music boys' dorms.

She descended the stairs and her flashlight flickered on. The strong beam made even Emma squint by the brightness. She glided over to the music dorms. She aimed it up the boys stairs and someone hissed, "Whoa!"

"Who's there?" Emma whispered.

There wasn't a reply. Footsteps hurried back upstairs. Emma peered up the stairs. Whoever was there was gone. Her nerves started to kick in and she started to worry if Matron had discovered her empty bed. Or maybe she'll be discovered in the halls. She turned around and fast walked back.

When she got back, she was relieved that Matron wasn't standing there, glaring down at her. She slipped into bed and switched the flashlight off, rolling it under the bed.

* * *

Elijah was breathing heavily. He was almost caught. He waited until the footsteps went away before he peeked down. The flashlight beam blinded him and he stumbled back, praying that whoever shone it didn't have enough time to notice his face.

He went down the steps, his head pounding. There was something bothering him though. A feeling at the back of his head that said that whatever he was about to do, it was a bad idea.

That was only ten percent though. The other ninety scolded the ten percent. Elijah shook his head to clear his mind and ran down the halls. He entered the East Wing and Ezekiel waited there in his wheelchair for him.

"Glad you could make it," Ezekiel croaked.

Elijah's head throbbed again, but only harder. He rubbed his temples and the pain went away.

"Head ache?" Ezekiel asked.

Elijah looked worried. "Why?" he murmured. "Why do you want me to see you?"

"You're not in trouble if that's what you think." Ezekiel smiled. "Come into my office and we'll discuss a few things."

Elijah hesitated.

"Well, come on. I won't bite." Ezekiel chuckled.

Elijah gave in and followed.

"Well, I heard that you control minds." Ezekiel said calmly as the settled down in the office.

Elijah nodded slowly.

"And I also heard from your foster parents that you sometimes can't control your endowment and it takes over you." Ezekiel said with interest.

Elijah froze.

"It's alright son, I'm here to listen to your story." said Ezekiel.

Elijah shook his head, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Hush now," Ezekiel said softly. He rolled over to Elijah and patted his shoulders. "Come now. Tell old Mr. Ezekiel everything."


	4. Chapter Three

"Elijah!"

Elijah glanced up. "Mommy!" he squealed with delight.

A woman set down her groceries and bent down with her arms out as the three year old Elijah waddled over to her.

"Where's your daddy?" the woman asked.

Elijah pointed to the living room.

The woman carried Elijah over to a man who was watching the news.

"Hey," the woman said to the man as Elijah messed with her long brown waves.

The man looked up. "Hey," he said back, smiling.

The woman laughed. "What are you doing watching the news. Go get dressed, we're having the Roy's over, remember?"

The man jumped up, bewildered. "What?" he exclaimed. "But that's tomorrow!"

"It _is_ tomorrow." the woman said. "Now go get changed while I go change Elijah."

The man chuckled and patted Elijah's head. "He's going to hate it." the man mused. "You know he hates tuxedos."

"He's not wearing a tux," the woman said. "He's going to wear a clean shirt and some pants with a belt. Maybe I should spike his hair too."

"Clara, I'll see to his hair." the man said to Clara. "We men know what do's to do and which do's to not do."

"Fine, just go put on a clean shirt John." Clara laughed.

Clara put Elijah down and he waddled to the couch to mess with the chocolate brown teddy bear on it.

His parents left to get dressed and Elijah lost interest in the bear. He tottered over to the dining room. Something small and bright caught his eye. It was up in the middle of the table and was on a white wax stick. It moved with the wind. Excited to find a new toy, he pulled out a chair and then climbed onto it. He looked at it some more. It tinged orange and grew bigger then smaller, bigger, then smaller.

He reached out his pudgy little hand and tried to grab it.

Excruciating pain shot up his hand and he screamed in pain. His mind seemed to darken with an unfamiliar feeling. He toppled over, knocking the candle off the table.

The flames licked the carpet for a few seconds before it started to spread.

Elijah howled with pain for a while and the next thing he knew he was in the arms of his mother. By then the room was in flames.

"Clara!" came the father's voice. "Where are you?"

"John!" Elijah heard his mother scream as he kept crying. His hand was red and swollen.

There was a loud bang and John collapsed to the ground. "John!" Clara screamed, running to the living room where the fire started to spread and the thick black smoke wrapped itself around the three.

She bent down and tried to untangle her husband from the mess. He knocked over a stand in the commotion, shocked to see fire running around on the carpet. The telephone wires had caught his foot and he tripped over Elijah's scattered toys. The fire was dangerously enclosing them.

"No, Clara. Listen to me. Go and run. Get Elijah out of here."

"No, I can't leave you here. I'll get you out." Clara sobbed, holding Elijah close to her.

For some bizarre reason. Elijah had stopped crying. Something in his head told him to stop. He tried to wrestle out of his mother's grip but she held on to him, afraid that she would lose him.

John yelled in pain as the fire started to burn on him. Clara sobbed even harder, tearing uselessly and savagely at the cords.

"Clara, you know I love you..." the father said, taking in deep breaths.

The mother slipped her hand into his. "I love you too." she whispered. She quickly kissed him and reluctantly let go and ran.

John laid his head down as flames swept over his body.

Clara fought the flames as best as she could, running to the front door.

She reached it, her hair on fire and her clothes burnt and singed. She yanked at the doorknob. The door opened and she screamed in pain, dropping Elijah. The fire had overwhelmed her and she had no choice but to pick up Elijah and throw him out the door.

She screamed again when the house started to fall. A beam fell on her and she went down, unconscious.

Little three year old Elijah was unaware he had lost his parents. He stood up and looked at his hand again.

He wandered off to the next door neighbors, the Whimfords, and showed them his burn.

They stood there, wide eyed and saw the house. They screamed and Elijah could remember that their eight year old daughter, Winnie, called the fire department.

Elijah remembered the medics driving his parents to the hospital.

He remembered the man who told him gently that they were dead.

He remembered packing up and being sent to live in an orphanage.

He remembered hating himself when he grew up learning that it was his fault they had died.

He hated himself for this. And he still does.


	5. Chapter Four

Ezekiel froze.

Though he felt no pity for people, not even his own family, he was somewhat touched by this boy's story.

He found himself tearing up but he fought that.

Elijah wasn't in tears anymore. He had told the story so many times that he felt emotionless by the end of the story.

Ezekiel felt his old self come back. No longer did he feel pity. He felt ashamed that he actually felt like shedding tears. That was over now. He looked at Elijah and said, "Dear boy, you had such a rough history."

Elijah nodded solemnly. "I knew when I was that young," he said. "to not play with fire. I knew what it was. My parents told me about it, not to play with it. But it was my mind. My mind took over me. It made me forget what it was. It was my own endowment that took over me. It was my own endowment that killed my parents."

Ezekiel's eyes flashed menacingly. "What if I could tell you that I could help you with that?"

Elijah looked at Ezekiel. "How?"

"I'm not endowed, but I have a bit of magic in me." he said. "I could take away your endowment so an accident like that could never happen."

Elijah's eyes flashed too, but instead it was with hope. "You could do that?"

"Indeed I can." Ezekiel said, smiling. His mind was racing. This would be a flawless plan. Instead of taking it away, he would make it so that it took over his mind completely, and he could make his mind listen to him. Then he would have a puppet to do his work. No more will the real Elijah live, but the new and completely evil Elijah will be born.

"That's incredible!" Elijah said. But then a shadow came across him. "Wait, what's the catch?"

"The catch?" Ezekiel echoed. "No catch, but other than to get good grades in school. Follow me. We can strip you of your power now, if you'd like. Or perhaps we could schedule you an appointment again?"

Elijah's heartbeat quickened. The sooner he gets rid of it the safer the school would be.

"Now! Please Mr. Ezekiel, now would be the best!" he pleaded.

Ezekiel smiled. "Then you best follow me."


	6. Chapter Five

The following day was the best day for Elijah. He felt confident and happy. He also felt rebellious but he reckoned that everyone has that feeling. He never did grow up properly, growing up with no actual happy emotions.

Everyone seemed to notice his change in behavior and attitude. In fact, they wanted to be friends with him.

"Hey!" a boy called.

Elijah turned to see who the boy was calling for and stopped, slightly pleased that it was him. The boy ran up to him and said, "Hey, you have any friends around?"

Elijah shrugged. "Dunno, why?"

"Just wondering," the boy said. Elijah looked at him closely. He had seen him before.

"Have I seen you before? I think you were in the homework room, where I was the day I got here." Elijah asked.

The boy brightened. "Yeah! I'm Charlie Bone. We have seventh period together."

"Life skills?" Elijah asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, with the cookies and the cakes and pies. Speaking of food I'm hungry. You wanna go get some breakfast?"

Elijah nodded. "Yea, I'm starving. I could eat a whole cow."

Charlie grinned. "I could eat a bull."

"I could eat an elephant." said Elijah.

"I could eat a whale." Charlie said back as the two boys entered the cafeteria.

"I could eat a...a..." Elijah scratched his head. "Okay, you got me."

The rest of his day went very smoothly. He made friends with the other good endowed and made a few of his own friends. He was quite glad that he rid of his endowment. He can finally relax for the first time in a long time. Then he ended up wondering why it was him who had to lead such a life without parents and a caring home. It wasn't until a year ago a young couple adopted him. They were loving, yes, but they were more cautious than relaxed.

Maybe they were afraid he would slip into his endowment without knowing it, and if he did, he would be unpredictable. Then why did they adopt him in the first place? The only ended up sending him to Bloor's, and even if they were reluctant, it still hurt him that they did.

He got the thought out of his head. He heard that the Bloor's like to have the endowed around, to make sure they could lead a 'normal' life, according to Manfred. He can finally joke around like the other boys do.

The teachers noticed a change in his attitude, and so did the rest of the staff. Every time before class starts they wonder what had happened to make him so cheerful.

"So what _did_ make you so happy?" asked Billy as he and Charlie walked with Elijah to the King's Room.

Elijah shrugged. "I don't know." He abruptly stopped and flinched, bending over and grasping his forehead.

"You okay?" asked Charlie, glancing back.

Elijah nodded and shrugged it off. The pain went away and he grinned. "Come on. We don't want to be late. Bet Manfred's gonna be screaming our heads off if we come in three seconds late."

Billy laughed. "I'll race you," he said.

Elijah ruffled Billy's hair. "You're on," he said.

"On your mark," Charlie said, eying them carefully as they lined up. "Get set," Both boys tensed. "Go!"

The two boys dashed forward. Billy was a few feet in front of Elijah, who looked back at Charlie and winked.

Charlie jogged to keep up with them. When they got there, Billy whispered, "I won! Can you believe that? I won!"

Elijah panted and ruffled Billy's hair again. "You rascal," he said. "At first I saw a white blur go by, then I realized that it was your hair and you were in front."

Billy looked pleased.

As the three settled down for homework, Elijah received a note which was thrown into his lap.

He looked up and scanned the circle of faces. None of them had looked up. Curious, he unfolded the note and read:

_Meet me again on the third story hall near the boy's bathroom._

Again...it had to be Ezekiel. Elijah shoved the note into his pocket, making a mental reminder not to forget it. Why would Ezekiel want to revisit him? Couldn't he just pull him out of class like normal headmasters do? It would save a lot of time.

And paper.

Instead of focusing on the constellation, Orion, his mind wandered off about all the possibilities he could do, now that he can do it safely. For instance, he could never go fishing if he had his endowment with him. He was afraid that he might pierce someone with a hook without knowing he had done it.

Or perhaps camping. It includes fire so he wouldn't trust himself to go near one anymore. He formed a fear for fire and a fear for items that make fire, like matches and lightning. Nor would he go play any sports. What if he kicked the ball too hard and caused someone a concussion? What if he got interested in something dropped in a pool and he forgets to swim up and breath?

He shuddered.

Manfred looked up. "You okay Elijah?"

Elijah nodded. "A little cold." he said.

Manfred grunted. "Well you better get used to it." He looked back down at his paperwork. A few of the endowed, either good or bad, looked at Elijah strangely. Not once had they ever heard Manfred call a student by his or her first name. Though some do remember once or twice, it was highly rare.

Elijah, however, didn't know this and he went back to counting how many stars made up Orion before scribbling it down on his star chart.

* * *

Ezekiel was waiting for Elijah patiently at the end of the hall on the third story by the boy's bathroom. His face was cloudy, as if he had been thinking really hard and had barely enough time to sleep.

Elijah crept into the hallway and stood face to face with Ezekiel. He started and sent an apologetic face to him.

Ezekiel decided to take offense for that later. Now he would have to deal with something else. "Elijah, would you do me a favor?"

"Anything Mr. Ezekiel." said Elijah. "You took away a power I hated. I have to repay you, remember?"

"And how much will you repay me?" Ezekiel asked, trying not to make his voice sound overexcited.

"Anytime you want, no matter how many times. The endowment took away my life. All thirteen years of it. I owe you for life." Elijah said seriously.

Ezekiel stared at him curiously. "I want you to spy on Bone and his friends." Ezekiel said finally.

Elijah's expression didn't change. "Excuse me?"

"I want you to spy on them, get them to trust you." said Ezekiel without batting an eye.

Elijah's face clouded like Ezekiel's. "But, Mr. Ezekiel, they really are my friends. I trust them, isn't that enough? Why do you want me to spy on them? They did nothing wrong." His head was pounding yet again. He ignored it.

Ezekiel frowned. "I'm sorry Elijah, but have I heard incorrectly? You owe me for life, correct? This is what I want you to do, or is your endowment not as bad as you think?"

Elijah gulped. "Can I at least ask why?"

"Because they're not who you think they are." Ezekiel said, a touch of impatience in his tongue. He took a few seconds to recollect himself before he said, "They took away something from me. Something I long to do for so long."

Elijah's face softened, but slightly. "What?"

"My ability to walk. Have you not seen my incapability to walk? They took that away from me. I can't walk through the park with my family. I can't take strolls with my wife. I can't throw a ball around with my youngest grandson." Ezekiel said, his voice cracking.

Elijah looked taken aback. He honestly can't see Ezekiel playing ball with a seven year old boy or a boy as young as seven. And his wife? Elijah didn't know that Ezekiel's wife was still alive. He never seen her. "You...you want revenge on them?"

"Not revenge my boy," Ezekiel said in a whisper. "Justice,"


	7. Chapter Six

"Justice?" Elijah echoed.

"Do you think that taking away an ability is a good thing?" Ezekiel said.

"That depends on the ability." said Elijah. "You took mine and I feel great."

"Just do it for me, please." said Ezekiel. "Do whatever it takes to get them to accept you."

"Whatever it takes?" Elijah echoed again. He didn't like the sound of that. His head was annoying him again and he rubbed it hard. "I'll try." he said. "But first, you got any aspirin?"

* * *

Charlie found a group of students crowding around the notice board in front of the library. They were reading over each other's shoulders, whispering excitedly and pointing. People passing by turned their heads in interest but they didn't cease their walk. Some did and, like Charlie, inched up and tried to see what was going on.

"What's that?" Charlie asked no one in particular.

A girl turned around. "It's a notice posted by Dr. Bloor," she said in a business like tone. "But I'm too short to see what it is."

Charlie stood on the top of his toes to get a better look. He made out a few words like 'School', 'Fall' and 'Saturday'. At least, he thought it was 'Saturday', though it was confirmed when he squeezed in between a few people up front when they ran off to alert their own friends.

"Back to School Fall Dance, this Saturday from three to six in the evening." Charlie read. "Admission, absolutely free to all students. Fun, snacks, music, and fireworks. And for the young lasses out there, slow dances at the end for that romantic spark. More information to be announced later this afternoon." Charlie left the crowd for that was all the notice said.

"Who could I go with?" Charlie wondered aloud as he entered the music coatroom.

"Go with who to what?" asked Fidelio, looking up from polishing his violin.

Charlie strode over to him. "There's a back to school dance and it's completely free of charge."

"Ah, you've stumble across a good person to help you out," Fidelio grinned. "If I were you, I'd go for the sweet and pretty type, not too picky, and one you can talk to."

Charlie sighed. "Fidelio, what do you know about girls?"

Fidelio looked at Charlie with mock shock. "Charlie, can you not see the obvious faces of my fangirls?" He spread his arms out as if to say, 'Look around you dope,' and then he laughed. "But enough about me, what you need is a girl you know pretty well and she knows you pretty well and considers you as a friend."

Charlie felt an embarrassing urge to smile. He had one in mind but he wasn't sure if she wanted to go.

"Ah, Elijah. The other perfect man to help old Charles out." Fidelio said, smiling at Elijah who came in. Elijah flickered a smile on his worn and clouded face. He hung up his cape and sat down next to Charlie on the bench as Fidelio packed up his violin.

"So what's up?" asked Elijah.

Charlie sighed. "The school dance is coming and I want to ask someone. She's a very nice girl and we can talk on forever. But I don't know if she likes me. I don't want to be humiliated, and from the department she's from, they're bound to laugh."

Elijah shook his head, his worn and tired look vanishing from his face. "Charlie, you have to be optimistic about things. Be a 'glass half full' type of guy. Girls don't like it when you mope around."

"Yeah, just don't be Elijah when he first came here," Fidelio joked.

Elijah smirked, feeling better. "Yeah, and don't be Fidelio at all."

"Touche," Fidelio responded, hanging up his own cape.

Charlie looked up. "What if she's taken?"

"Then don't show it! Be a little disappointed but don't go crying your eyes out," said Fidelio. "Just move on for the night. Play the field. Be the player."

Elijah nodded vigorously. "Yeah, and besides, you guys are already friends, so that's a plus."

"You need to do something about your posture though," said Fidelio, sizing Charlie up.

"Yeah, posture is everything." said Elijah, standing up. "Straighten out your back, don't puff out your chest, show me a casual smile, no, knock that off your face, that's just creepy," Elijah backed way from Charlie as he gave a forced smile.

"Loosen up, man." Fidelio said. "Shoulders are too tense, head's too high, act like you're having fun."

"Right now, this is the _least_ fun moment in history," Charlie murmured under his breath.

"And another thing, don't slur your words or mutter. All the chicks here are grumble, grumble, grumble. Speak clearly." said Elijah.

"If I did, you guys would kill me right about now." Charlie retorted. "Forget it, you guys aren't any help. I'll go ask her myself."

He stormed out of the coat room, Elijah and Fidelio exchanging looks. Charlie stormed back in and untied his cape and hung it, facing them. "Forgot it's free period," he said in an undertone.

"There's that muttering," Fidelio chided.

Charlie groaned and left again while the two boys smirked after him.

Elijah felt a sharp pain in his head and he grunted, his hands flying up to his head. "This headache is killing me," he muttered.

"Maybe you should go see the nurse," said Fidelio, his smile wiped off his face. "You've been having migraines for a few weeks now.

Elijah shook his head. The pain went away but his head throbbed. "I'm good now. I'm...I'm going to run around the gardens, get a bit of air into my system."

"Good for you," said Fidelio, patting him on the back.

Elijah ran out of the coat room and towards the gardens.

When he reached the gardens the pain went away completely. He panted, feeling a little nervous. What if Ezekiel failed to get rid of the endowment? _No, side effects. _He thought firmly. _They're side effects. That must be it. I feel better than I did weeks ago. They're side effects._

His eyes scanned the gardens. Children from ten to seventeen were playing around. The older kids were tossing around a Frisbee or basketball while the younger ones watched. Other groups strayed away from the Frisbee game and chatted nonstop with their friends. He saw a few of his friends. He planned to go over to them and talk but they were talking to a few girls.

_For the dance probably, _he thought bitterly. Speaking of the dance, who _will h_e go with?

He noticed that a few girls were looking at him. When he looked back, they turned their heads quickly, giggling.

_Not them, too giggly. _He thought. His head pounded again. He felt like screaming. What now? He's all better, right? So why does he feel like something's poking at his brain, urging him to listen?

Should he listen? He sat down on the grass and fingered the blades as he breathed in and out. There was that sickening feeling of guiltiness. Why though? He laid down and stared at the sky. Clouds flew by slowly and the sun was hidden behind the trees. It was beautiful out. Golden leaves flew by, maybe they were from the forest.

Something was telling him to not listen to Ezekiel. But it quickly went away sharply as if someone forced it away. He suddenly knew what to do. Something told him to use one of the strongest power. _Use love,_ the voice seemed to say. _It will tear them apart..._

Love, huh? He glanced around. He knew only two good endowed girls. Emma Tolly and Olivia Vertigo. It was a no brainer, to him. Though something else was prickling his mind as if it was scolding, he picked Emma. It was either her or the weird and drama obsessed Olivia. It would have to do.

"This Saturday..." he muttered to himself, propping himself on his elbows while he still lay on his back. It was slightly uncomfortable but he figured it was easier to rest and look that way without sitting. "Four days left..."

He decided to start in on her tomorrow. First to compliment, yes, that would maybe work. He gasped with pain. It was as if someone took a mallet and swung it at his head.

He rubbed it and then it came again. What was going on? It was as if his own mind was fighting him.

He stopped, suspended in mid-rib. Maybe Ezekiel's magic was wearing off. Then he'd have to go back to hurting people without meaning to. He's a natural accident prone. Ezekiel was, no doubt, old and his magic could probably wear off easily. He sat up, wide eyed. He would have to go see him again.

He stood back up and dashed inside, right as the hunting horn sounded across the school grounds.

* * *

Tancred was in the library, scanning the bookshelves for a book to help him on his essay. Apparently he lost the old one and now he had to write a make-up essay on pottery.

"Stupid books," he muttered. "Stupid essay, stupid subject..."

Lysander walked by the bookshelves in a hurry and froze, backing up with an amazed look. "Tanc?" he said incredulously. "You're in the library?" He looked up. "I was only kidding,"

Tancred shot Lysander a look. "Don't talk all surprised Sander," Tancred said. "I have to redo the essay. I lost it."

Lysander chuckled. He couldn't help himself. "You mean the essay you threw away in the trash while you were cleaning out your backpack?"

Tancred stared at Lysander. "I threw it away?" he said blankly. "I looked at it and threw it away?"

"It was probably stuck in between a few pages from the beginning of the week." said Lysander. "You got to be more organized Tanc, how hard is that?"

"Very," said Tancred, pulling out a maroon colored book. He coughed as he brushed off the dust from the cover. "This place is so old, even the books are suffering." he mumbled.

"Anyway, have you heard?" asked Lysander.

Tancred looked up. "Heard what?"

"Man, this is your chance." Lysander said. "There's a school dance this Saturday. It's a perfect time to ask her."

Tancred hid his face behind his book and turned around. Despite the foul smell of the old book, he dug further into it. "What are you talking about Sander?" he said. "Can't you see I'm reading?

"Reading?" Lysander smirked. "The book has no space whatsoever. You have your face in it."

"That's what I call _reading_ studiously." said Tancred.

"Tancred,"

Tancred sighed and turned around. He wasn't able to take the foul stench anymore. "What?"

"You know you want to ask her out." said Lysander.

"Sander, what if she says no? What if someone else asked her."

"Ask who?" a voice said.

Tancred turned around and Lysander leaned to the right to see who was behind Tancred. "Oh hey Elijah," said Tancred.

"Hey, Tanc. S'up Lysander." Elijah nodded.

Lysander nodded back. "I'm confronting Tancred right now."

"Oh that's perfect," said Elijah, pulling up a chair and sitting down promptly. "I'm all ears man. We feel for you."

Tancred turned red. "This is kinda personal." he said slowly.

"Tanc he can listen in. We won't say her name, he'll just know what you feel but he won't know who you're talking about." said Lysander.

"Okay, that's fine with me now that you put it that way." said Tancred. "I'm trying to ask this one girl out but I'm afraid of...what's the word?" he asked Lysander, turning his upper body halfway around.

Lysander rolled his eyes. "Denial?"

"Yeah, that word." Tancred said, turning back to Elijah who was listening attentively.

"Luckily for you I had this talk with Charlie." said Elijah. "Fido helped too. So here's the biggie question, the mother of all mother. Does she like you?"

"Er..."

Elijah's head drooped down. "Okay, let me ask another biggie. Do you _like_ her?"

"Well yeah," said Tancred. "I've been crushing on her for a while now."

"Is she aware you exist?"

"That'll be sad if she didn't." Lysander piped in.

"Oh, so she's a friend of yours!" Elijah said eagerly. This seemed to go pretty well so far.

Tancred flushed. "Maybe,"

"Maybe?" Lysander exclaimed. "Dude, she's like your best friend!" Then he paused. "Other than me."

"Let's take this outside." Elijah whispered as the librarian glared at them at the end of the row.

The three boys gave her an awkward smile as she pointed towards the door.

"So, do I know her? Is she new here? Is she an old student? What department is she in? Is she endowed? Is she the good or the bad?" asked Elijah.

"Yes, no, yes, our department, maybe, can't tell." Lysander answered for Tancred without giving away too much.

"Hmm, well, in that case, what's she like?"

Tancred's eyes became dreamy. Lysander had an urge to slap his forehead and Elijah looked at him curiously.

"She has the most beautiful eyes." Tancred said. "Her eyes are like waves of the ocean. The hair is the softest you'd ever feel. She has skills that no one else in school can compare to. She's a prodigy. She's so sweet too and I'd spend every waking second of my life just listening to her talk. Her voice is just the sweetest thing. Like a song. She has a fancy for-"

"A lot of stuff," Lysander said loudly. "She has a lot of interest in a lot of stuff."

Tancred snapped out of his trance and blushed. "Yeah, a lot of stuff..."

"Could I guess who it is?" asked Elijah.

Tancred shrugged. "Go ahead if you want. I'll bet you a million pounds that you'll never guess it on your first guess."

Elijah cocked his head as if he was in deep thought. "Let me see here. Would the lucky lass be, Emma Tolly?"


	8. Chapter Seven

Charlie and the rest of the music students shuffled their way to get their dinner. Cook gave Charlie a wink as she poured Charlie a bowl of steaming hot soup. "Are you going to the dance, love?" she asked.

"Maybe." Charlie said, picking up a few napkins from the napkin basket.

"You'd love the food provided." said Cook as she handed Charlie his dessert, pecan pie. "I'm cooking most of it."

"What kind of food?" asked Charlie.

"You'll see if you go. Besides, you're holding up the line." said Cook, pointing to her left.

Charlie glanced to his right and people were leaning over to see what was the hold up.

"Sorry," he said to the next person in line who was eying Charlie's pie.

Charlie was about to go and sit down at the music table but then something caught his eye.

Instead, he walked off in the other direction to the art table. "Hey Em,"

Emma looked up, startled. "Oh, hey Charlie." she breathed, her shoulders relaxing.

"What's going on?" he asked, ignoring the funny looks from the other art students.

"I don't know. The past few days everyone's staring at me. Like I had a big secret." Emma said.

Charlie glanced around. A few heads turned quickly away and Charlie looked back down at Emma, who stirred her soup subconsciously. "I see what you mean." Charlie said in a low tone.

"I don't know why though." said Emma. "I had a few people here asking me who I liked." Emma bowed her head a little, slightly turning red. "They asked if his initials were 'E.T', just like mine."

Charlie shook his head. "I don't know anyone with those initials but you. People would find out after all of these days." Then he stopped. "Well, there's one person I know." he said. "But I'm not quite sure if his last name starts with 'T'."

Emma sighed. "I hate rumors." she muttered. "They're misleading and hurtful. I mean I only like one person, and his first name doesn't start with an 'E'."

"It doesn't?" a girl asked, turning around in her seat to look at Emma. Emma and Charlie looked up, surprised. They had forgotten where they were for a second and that people could easily listen in.

"Erm..." Emma glanced up at Charlie. Charlie shook his head.

"Well then who do you like?" the girl asked. "The whole school is dying to know."

"Why?" asked Emma, her anger slowly rising. Emma wasn't fond of being angry but she had to straighten this rumor out.

"Well, I heard from my friend Kayla that you liked someone with your initials. Everyone's going insane trying to figure that out. Not only because they want to know what's going on, but it's like you want to know at least one boy with the initials. It's just something you can't give up in." the girl explained.

"Emma, _do_ you want to tell who you really like?" asked Charlie gently.

Emma grew redder and shook her head reluctantly.

The girl sighed. "We'll probably find out someday. Hope we don't bug you too much Emma." the girl added, giving Emma and Charlie a small smile.

"Bone!"

Charlie's head spun around.

Manfred stormed up to him. He made Charlie shrink down as he looked up at the towering Manfred. "Are you in the art department?" Manfred asked in a dangerously calm voice.

Charlie shook his head. "No, sir." His voice wobbled. His eyes traveled down to Manfred's hands where they could burn and then his eyes shot back up at Manfred's face. He looked somewhat smug.

"Afraid of fire, are you Bone?" Manfred snapped. "You're not the only one."

Manfred stepped aside to let Charlie pass. He went without a word, though he _did_ throw a backwards glance.

Manfred narrowed his eyes at him and urged Charlie to walk faster.

"What was _that_ all about?" asked Gabriel as Charlie sat down.

"Thanks for saving my seat Billy," Charlie said quickly to Billy who had scooted his water in front of the seat next to him for Charlie. He then looked at Gabriel who was sitting straight across from him. "Emma looked miserable and so I went to see if she was okay."

The boys turned to glance over at the art table. "Now that you mentioned it, she does look sad." said Fidelio. "I don't blame her though. Did you hear? I've heard from Mitchell Runes that she likes a boy with her initials."

"Oh, yeah!" Gabriel said, pointing at Fidelio. "Everyone's trying to figure who it is."

"Does Tancred know?" asked Billy softly.

Charlie and Gabriel shrugged. "I reckon he doesn't." said Fidelio grimly as he picked up a carrot, examining it. "If he did, he'd blow the whole school off it's ground."

Gabriel chuckled. "I can't believe he hasn't heard. I mean, everywhere I go I hear Emma's name and since he likes her, I can't believe he hasn't heard yet."

"Maybe Lysander's trying to avoid those conversations." said Charlie. "To protect him and the rest of us,"

"The rest of us?" Billy asked curiously.

"We don't want to be zapped." said Fidelio.

"And with his unpredictable rages, the halls would be unbelievably wet." said Gabriel.

"And humid." added Charlie.

The four laughed as Elijah sat down.

"You wouldn't believe how long the line was. My feet grew numb and I can barely walk now." Elijah moaned.

Gabriel scooted over a little so that Elijah could have more room. "Thanks Gabe," Elijah said. Then he glanced down at his plate. "Soup..." he said to himself.

"I love Cook's soup." said Billy, slurping up the soup. "I like to go down to her kitchen for dinner and she'd make me some of it sometimes."

"Dinner? Why aren't you there right now? They let you do that?" Elijah asked.

"Billy's an orphan." said Fidelio gently. "He lives here practically 24/7."

"In _this_ dump? Gee Billy I feel for you." Elijah said, looking around the cafeteria. His eyes stopped on a bat hanging from the beams. "I _really_ feel for you. And now I don't think I can go to sleep without checking every five minutes under the bed to see if there's a bat monster thing there."

The boys laughed. "You'll get used to them." said Fidelio. "They're usually found here, the top of the Music Tower, and sometimes in the halls but other than that, they can't get into dorms."

"So I don't have to set an alarm for every five minutes to check?"

Charlie grinned and said, "Nope,"

Elijah smiled. "Good, because I don't even have an alarm." His mind gave a little pound and he remembered what Ezekiel had asked of him. "Do any of you know who's going with who to the dance?"

Billy looked at Charlie, who was suddenly interested in a small crack in the table. "Charlie still has yet to ask the girl of his dreams," Gabriel said.

"I'm not going," said Billy. "I don't like dances. They're too mushy."

"Not all dances are like that." said Elijah. "Are they?"

"No, not really." said Charlie. "Once in a while there would be a prank pulled on someone. It's really fun to watch unless you're the victim."

"But no one really goes after the endowed. At least, not the powerful ones." said Gabriel.

"Powerful endowed?" Elijah frowned. "But aren't we all equal?"

"We like to think that way." said Charlie. "But come on, a fight between a picture traveler and a...a..."

"Someone like Manfred," added Fidelio.

"Right, someone like Manfred, who burns, who do you think would win?" asked Charlie.

Elijah froze, paralyzed. Burn? Something weird started happened to him. His memory seemed to blur and he suddenly forgot what he was doing. He felt lightheaded and two faces swirled back to him.

"Elijah?" came a voice.

Elijah couldn't speak. _Mom? _He thought. _Dad?_

The faces of his parents focused and they were frowning at them. "Honey, look at what you're doing." said the mother.

"Elijah, squirt," the dad said seriously. "We know you can become a better person. You weren't destined for evil and wrongdoing. You were destined for good and justice."

_Justice..._

The faces faded away and Ezekiel's voice sounded from somewhere. It was soft and sad. "Justice...justice..."

"Elijah!"

Elijah winced but he still heard Ezekiel's voice. The faces of the other boys faded and he saw nothing but darkness.

* * *

"Elijah!" Billy shouted. "Wake up!"

"Dude, snap out of it!" Fidelio said, looking around the cafeteria. People were looking at them, some standing up to see what was going on. "Someone go get a teacher!" Fidelio shouted.

Murmurs swept across the cafeteria and a teacher jogged to them.

"Elijah!" Charlie yelled, shaking Elijah's shoulders. Elijah had sat freakishly still. Then his eyes turned distant and he collapsed to the floor.

The teacher, one who Charlie had never met but had seen sometime in the hall and assemblies, knelt over Elijah.

"What happened?" the teacher asked hurriedly.

"We don't know." said Gabriel, who was kneeling down next to him. "We were talking and then he suddenly grew still. It's like, like something took over him and then he fell out of his seat."

The teacher looked over his shoulder. "Go get the nurse," he ordered to a boy who was sitting next to Elijah.

The boy dashed off from the table and out through the doors.

"Elijah!" Billy yelled.

"Hush now son," the teacher said sternly. "He won't wake. He's fallen into a trance. I've seen that look before."

Just then, Dr. Saltweather strode in and he was surprised to see the school standing up and looking directly at his student's table. "What did Bone do now?" he asked himself wearily as he marched over.

"Oh my goodness," Dr. Saltweather breathed, careful not to curse in front of his pupils. "What happened to Elijah?"

The teacher who was there looked up.

"Ah, Mr. Tyne, good. What happened?" Dr. Saltweathr said briskly. My. Tyne stood up, looking fearful.

"It seems like the boy had triggered something in his brain, sending him into a dangerous trance." Mr. Tyne said in a low tone so only Dr. Saltweather could hear. However, Billy was listening attentively, determined to find out what happened.

"Oh dear, have you went to fetch the nurse?"

"I'm already here Dr. Saltweather," a voice said hurriedly from behind.

The two teachers stepped aside to allow the school nurse squeeze through. The boy who had left to get her went by them too to get back to his seat to get a better view.

The nurse knelt down and shined a light at Elijah's eyes to test the pupillary light reflex. "The pupils aren't shrinking like they would do." she said briskly. "We need to get him to the hospital. This is out of my league."

While everyone was watching the commotion, Ezekiel was sitting in his wheelchair at the doors, brooding. "Hospital..." he muttered. "That won't do..."


	9. Chapter Eight

A nurse led Ezekiel to Elijah's room. "He's waken," the nurse said cheerfully, hoping to lift Ezekiel's emotions. "But he doesn't stay awake that long now does he, the poor boy. The burn on his hand looks awfully terrible too, but I suppose that didn't happen today, did it?"

"It happened years ago," Ezekiel growled as they came to a room with the door slightly ajar. "Thank you, I'd like to talk to him privately."

The nurse nodded. "Sure thing mister. Call if you need anything, I'll be down the hall."

Ezekiel nodded and wheeled himself into the room.

The hospital has such a unique smell. Ezekiel hated the smell, and he noticed they had the same smell in retirement homes. That's why he didn't go to one. But this was essential to his plan. He had to get Elijah to snap out of it.

Elijah was lying down on the bed facing a television. His eyes flickered up when Ezekiel entered. "Mr. Ezekiel," Elijah croaked. "What's happening to me?"

Ezekiel put on his sad and miserable face. "Elijah, my dear boy, what happened?"

Elijah felt tears in his eyes and he looked away, towards the window. He got that feeling in his nose when you get teary eyed and Ezekiel rolled forward, patting Elijah's hand. "My dear boy, you can tell me anything. Just like you did your story." Ezekiel said gently.

"Fire," Elijah gasped. He shuddered. "I have an extreme fear for fire."

"Ah, pyrophobia." said Ezekiel. "I understand, but what exactly happened?"

"I was talking to Charlie and his friends, trying to act like their friend like you said." Elijah said hoarsely. "Then they brought up the subject of fire. Then, I saw faces. I saw my mum and dad."

Ezekiel frowned. _His real self broke out..._ Ezekiel thought, very displeased. "Go on," he said, trying to restrain himself from strangling Elijah, wheelchair or no wheelchair.

"They weren't proud. They told me to see what I was doing. They think it's wrong." said Elijah, his eyes flickering. He laid back down on his bed and moaned.

"Stay awake my boy, and tell me what else you saw."

"Nothing," said Elijah. "After that, I saw nothing."

Ezekiel stared at Elijah's eyes, which closed. Ezekiel closed his own eyes and started to focus.

_Elijah, listen to me...Wake up. You're not sick. You're well and you're going to ask either the Tolly or Vertigo girl to the dance. You have to try to crush the boy who likes them. You have to take control of the girl's mind. Awake Elijah, your old self is no more._

Elijah stirred.

_Ignore all migraines, be fearless, but don't let their trust go._

Elijah mumbled something while he slept.

_And don't reveal your real purpose._

Elijah yawned and Ezekiel opened his eyes. "Hey Mr. Ezekiel," Elijah said. "I suddenly feel better." He yawned again and got out of bed. "I wonder why that is."

Ezekiel smiled. "I wonder too."

"He what?"

Charlie was retelling the story of what happened that night to the others in the gardens.

"He froze, really still like a statue. His face was weird though. It looked like he was scared." said Charlie.

Olivia frowned. "What did you guys say?"

"We just asked him who would win, a picture traveler or a pyrokinetic." said Gabriel.

"Win in what?" asked Emma.

"A fight. We were just joking around though." said Fidelio.

"That's when he froze. Then his eyes got all weird and he fell." said Billy worriedly. "Is he going to be okay?"

No one could say for sure but they didn't want to ruin Billy's hope. "Of course he is," said Tancred, smiling at Billy. "He's a tough guy. I'm sure he's gonna be okay."

"Oh I'm better than okay," said Elijah's voice.

They all turned around, amazed and happy.

"Elijah!" Billy gasped. "You're okay."

"I'm not okay, I'm better than okay. I feel great." said Elijah, grinning. He ruffled Billy's hair and high-fived Gabriel.

"Dude, how'd you get better?" Charlie exclaimed, a grin inching onto his face. "The nurse said that you were in critical condition."

Elijah shrugged. "I just can't leave you guys like that, here at this dump. That's just wrong."

"We've survived a few years without you," said Olivia.

Elijah looked at her. "Well thank you for the appreciation Olivia," he said in mock offense.

They all laughed. "But seriously, how did you get out of the hospital?" asked Charlie again.

"Ooh, that's a toughie. Maybe I got up, checked out, and walked out the door. But a very good question Charlie, a very good question."

Grins lingered as Elijah really told them what had happened. "They said I fell into a slight...coma-"

"A coma?" said Emma, looking concerned.

"It's nothing," said Elijah. "But miraculously, I fell out of it."

"Is it serious?" asked Gabriel.

"Nah, it's no biggie."

"Well we're all glad you're better." said Fidelio, giving Elijah a high five.

"What caused it though?" asked Charlie. "I mean it's just out of the blue. Was it something we said or something you thought of?"

Elijah felt a tiny little empty feeling in his chest but it was tiny. He could dodge that. It went away quickly with his next few words, "To tell you the truth, I have a fear of fire..."

"Fire? Wow, something happened to you that caused that, didn't it?" Emma said softly. For some reason, Emma felt like she should know him a little more better. He looked a little quiet now, like he did at the beginning of the school year.

Elijah looked down at his feet and took a seat on the grass, fingering the blades. "Well...yeah."

"What happened?" asked Olivia.

Elijah didn't take his eyes off the ground. "Because of my own stupidness..." he said so quietly that everyone leaned in to listen closely. "I'm scared of it, or anything that cause fire. I'd stay alert around matches, thunder storms-no offense Tancred." he added quickly.

"It's okay, keep going," said Tancred in response. He cast his eyes over to Emma and they jerked back quickly.

In his mind, Elijah grinned. But then it vanished. He continued on. "And Manfred..." His hand automatically rubbed his right forearm without him noticing.

Billy gaped at it. "Did he, burn you?"

Elijah looked up, his hand quickly retreating to his side. "What makes you think that?" he asked quickly, looking alarmed.

"Oh my gosh..." Emma gasped. "He didn't, did he?"

The horn sounded and students reluctantly poured back into the gloomy and gray building. Elijah stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. "The night I arrived," he muttered. He spun around and walked towards the doors, leaving the rest in awe.

Emma hastened around the corner. Now she's really late for homework time. _Stupid, _Emma thought bitterly as she ascended up the stairs, two steps at a time. _I _had _to linger around the library, didn't I? Lost track of time, Manfred won't take that excuse._

She clutched the library book in her hands tightly as she hurried into the room, the door ajar.

"Sorry I'm late." she uttered as she met face to face with a fuming Manfred.

"Detention," Manfred snapped. Emma's shoulders drooped and she looked around for a seat.

There was an open seat next to Elijah and she hurried to take it before Manfred would give her any more detentions.

Manfred was about to take his seat when a distance roar from the hall outside yelled, "MANFRED!"

Manfred jumped and scowled. He looked back at the other students and said, "Behave yourselves." He hurried out and the door closed.

Tancred sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair. "Finally, a break. Hey Sander, got a coconut drink up your sleeves?"

Lysander rolled his eyes. "Tanc, you got a worksheet to do for Mr. Lodes. Don't tell me you're going to slack off _again_."

"Hey, that essay was history, okay?" Tancred said defensively.

"Sure it was Tancred," said Charlie, rolling his eyes.

"Tancred, start doing your ho- whoa!" Lysander scooted away from Tancred as he put up his feet on the table. "What are you trying to do? Get detention?" Lysander snapped.

Tancred scoffed. "Maybe,"

Lyasnder stared at his friend and then something snapped. "Ohhhh, I get it now..." he whispered to himself, but Tancred seemed to know what was going on inside his friends' brain and he nodded.

Dorcas from the other side glared at Tancred. "Take down your stinky feet Torsson," she snarled.

Tancred raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?"

"I said-"

"No, I know what you said but do you know what I said?"

Dorcas looked like a cross between confused and baffled. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Does it Dorc, does it?"

"What did you say anyway?"

"What I said," said Tancred smugly.

Dorcas' face reddened with anger. Elijah couldn't help but wonder what her endowment was. Then he realized he wished he didn't.

After Tancred had received detention when Manfred returned and after homework was put away back into their bookbags and when they were headed gladly back to their dorms to get a rest, Gabriel said to Elijah, "Watch out for Dorcas. She bewitches clothing and it's possible that she can kill people. Bet she's going to bewitch Tancred's cape."

"She does _what_?"

"Shhh, don't want you bewitched either." Gabriel said in an undertone, casting suspicious glances around the shadows.

Elijah looked behind him. He spot Emma looking at him and she quickly looked away, slightly reddening. He turned back and gave himself a satisfying whoop in his head. Not that he liked her, but so far Ezekiel's plan might actually start to look up. But he had only a few day remaining. _That's a problem..._ he thought. His hand was rubbing his forearm again and he lifted his right arm up.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Gabriel as they ascended up the boys music dormitory stairs. Charlie and Billy were behind them, looking up at them.

"Er, yeah." Elijah said uncomfortably.

"What really happened?" asked Billy. Elijah shoved his hands into his pockets again. "Sorry, but I wanted to know..." Billy said quickly in a small voice.

"I don't know if I want to tell right now Billy," said Elijah kindly. "Maybe one day, when I feel better."

"You had quite a day Elijah," said Charlie as they passed the first landing where the younger students dwelled and ascended higher to their dorms.

"Yeah, but I had worse." he said. "Trust me, I had a lot worse."

They reached their landing and left the staircases and off into the hall of doors. Charlie, Gabriel, and Billy went off to the left and Elijah went off to the right.

"Good night Elijah," the three boys chorused.

"Night," Elijah said, waving.

He came to the third door on his right and carefully opened it. Four boys were still awake, much to Elijah's dismay. They looked up when he entered and grinned. "Hey dude," one of them said. "We're planning on raiding the Bloors' secret refrigerator. Heard they have some soda. Want any?"

Elijah paused. Stealing? Did the Bloors' even have a secret refrigerator? If so, he'd tell Ezekiel that and he'll probably see to it that it gets a proper lock up if it didn't.

He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and he heard the door close. The four boys were probably already out to get some sweets. The other boys would be asleep. Elijah undressed and slipped into a clean white shirt and some shorts and slid into bed with a lot to think about.

How would he 'win' Emma's heart? He thought back to the day Tancred dropped his books and stared at Elijah when he guessed the right girl on his first try. Lysander was rolling with laughter and Elijah was looking at Tancred innocently. Tancred...Elijah thought Tancred was a fun person. He's easy going and funny. But Ezekiel had told him that all of them weren't what they seemed. He felt his head clear up and he nodded to himself.

Yes, they weren't what they seemed. He would have to tear them apart. He'd tear Emma and Tancred apart with love. He'd do it really badly too, so it'll be permanent. Usually, he would feel guilty and not go on with the plan but something in his mind was urging him too.

He frowned. But what's that other feeling? He didn't like it. He turned over and then he sat up, troubled. He glanced around the dim room and reached under his bed for his suitcase. He quietly unzipped one of the large pockets and pulled out...

A chocolate brown teddy bear.

He brought it onto his lap and gazed at it's eyes. It was the only thing saved form the house. He thought of it in wonder and sorrow. The teddy, this teddy bear, the last thing Elijah touched before his mind took over and destroyed his life, was the only thing that remained unharmed.

He was surprised when he felt a tear fall down from his cheek and onto the teddy bear. He hugged it and quietly cried. 


	10. Chapter Nine

As Emma slipped into her dorm room, she thought about Elijah. The feeling returned and her stomach wasn't feeling so good. For a second, it was like she liked him. She already liked him as a friend, but as a crush? Isn't one enough? She sat on her bed for a while as her dorm mates chattered on.

By the time she and the other girls went to bed and Matron watched them as they did so, she couldn't help but feel lost.  
She even felt a little scared. Scared, not of Elijah, but of falling out of love with Tancred. She closed her eyes and drew her blankets closer to her. She'd have to think about it more in the morning. She had an awful load of homework and her mind's going to blow if she thought about it any more. But she she still thought about it. She drifted off into a deep slumber.

* * *

Tancred, who was walking with Emma with Lysander, back to the art dormitories noticed Emma gazing ahead of them. He followed her gaze and his heart sank. She was glancing over at Elijah. Elijah was talking to Gabriel and when Gabriel glanced around, Elijah looked back. Emma quickly brought back her gaze to the older boys and Elijah turned back around.

Feeling a little betrayed and even hurt, Tancred kicked the foot of his bed. Lysander, who was talking to one of the other boys started and looked at Tancred. "What's wrong?"

Tancred didn't answer. He didn't hear Lysander. Maybe Elijah didn't like Emma back. Maybe he was looking for someone else. Or maybe he and Gabriel are looking for something. But Emma...does she like him?

"It's okay Tancred, you have plenty of time to ask." said Lysander, obviously not aware of what was going on.

"It's not that," Tancred said gloomily. "But then, it could probably be nothing..."

"What could be nothing? Tanc, can you at least update me on something? I'm feeling a little isolated." said Lysander.

There weren't as many boys in the dorm right now. Or, at least, that are awake. There was one in the bathroom and another reading.

Tancred sat next to Lysander on his bed and whispered, "I think Emma likes Elijah, but I'm not sure..."

Lysander looked at Tancred, surprised. "Elijah? Tancred, why don't you ask? I mean you and Emma are close, and I bet she could tell you."

Tancred shook his head. "It's not that easy Sander, I mean, I happen to like the girl. Why don't _you_ ask?"

Lysander scoffed. "It's _your _crush Tancred, _you_ should ask."

"But _you're_ my friend, so _you_ can ask her." said Tancred, shooting a nervous look at the two boys who are still awake. They didn't seem to be listening.

"So I'm your messenger?" Lysander said, raising an eyebrow.

"Er..." Tancred hesitated. "Let me rephrase that."

Lysander threw up his hands into the air and Tancred gave a little grin. "Fine, I'll ask her. But you'll owe me." said Lysander.

"Okay, fair enough. I owe you one." said Tancred.

"No, you owe me about twenty." said Lysander, smiling.

Tancred sighed. "You're very unfair, aren't you?"

"And you're very stubborn, aren't you?" Lysander said back.

"Touche Sage," Tancred mused.

* * *

The following day was rainy. People had been asking Tancred if he had been making it. "No, I haven't," he snapped. He even had been asked if he could make it stop.

"Drop it Tanc," Lysander said as Tancred turned around to retort. "Turn around and walk."

They got in line for breakfast and got watercress salad. "Great, my favorite," Tancred muttered as Mrs. Weedon scooped up another spoonful of salad. Mrs. Weedon glared at Tancred and splattered it onto his plate. Lysander froze as Tancred calmly wiped off the water and continued onto the art table.

Emma was already sitting at the table in her usual seat and Tancred sat across from her. "Hi Tancred," Emma said warmly. She then frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"He's not in a good mood." said Lysander as he sat down, handing a few napkins to Tancred, who took them without a word.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Tanc," said Emma gently.

Tancred glanced at Emma and he softened up. He gave her a smile and then his smile vanished when he picked up his fork and spoon. "I just wish breakfast would be a little more cheerful." he said wistfully.

"Well then why didn't you say so?" asked Lysander, reaching over towards Tancred's plate. He did a little arranging and tossing out pieces that wasn't necessary. "Voila, a _happy_ salad."

Emma giggled and Tancred grinned. Lysander arranged the pieces so it looked like the salad was smiling up at Tancred. "Gee, thanks. I hope you washed your hands though," said Tancred. "If not, then I don't have to eat it!"

"Sorry Tanc, but I did." said Lysander, holding up his hands.

Tancred sighed and shook his head at Emma, who reddened. "Some people will never learn, will they?"

"But you're supposed to," said Lysander pointedly.

"I know, but would it kill you to not wash your hands before breakfast _today_? I mean if you were lazy today, you'd save me from choking." said Tancred. Then his eyes fell onto Mrs. Weedon, who was passing by. "But that would be a shame. I love watercress salad!"

"Smooth," Lysander muttered as Mrs. Weedon walked off.

"_Alive_," Tancred muttered as Emma smiled.

* * *

Charlie was eating scrambled eggs, grateful that he was in the music department. He heard that the art students had watercress salad. He had no idea what the drama students were eating but at least he was okay with scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. A regular normal breakfast. Then he wished he had what the drama students were having.

"Did you know what they're having?" asked Fidelio as he sat down, passing his pieces of bacon to Charlie automtically. Charlie or any of the others were Fidelio's meat garbage can. He could always rely on them to 'dispose' of it.

"What?"

"Roman noodles," Gabriel interrupted as he sat down next to Charlie with Billy on his heels.

"What?" Charlie turned around to the drama department and saw that they were passing around kettles and chopsticks.

"Their cook was tired of making food so she bought a hundred of those cups and boiled water for them." said Billy.

"Lucky Olivia," Charlie muttered.

"Speaking of Olivia," said Fidelio softly. "Did you ask her?"

Charlie didn't reply. He cut off a piece of bacon and stuffed it in his mouth. Fidelio watched Charlie as he chewed ever so slowly.

"Charlie, don't tell me you haven't asked." said Fidelio, shaking his head.

"Fido, every time I get close to her I chicken off."

"Then I'll ask for you," said Fidelio.

Charlie didn't say anything. He poked around at his plate. Bill and Gabriel exchanged looks. "No,"

The three boys look up at Charlie, who sat down his utensils. "I'll ask her myself."

He pushed his plate away and stood up, swiftly striding towards the doors and out into the main halls.

* * *

Sarah stared down at her desk. Curiosity was still poking around in her head. She wanted to ask Tancred Torsson and Lysander Sage about the initials but she didn't get a chance to do so. She looked up as they sat down in the row of desks in front of her for arithmetic. _A chance! _Sarah thought excitedly.

She leaned forward and tapped Lysander on the shoulder.

Lysander turned around in his chair and so did Tancred. "Yeah?"

"Hey, do any of you know who's initials that start with 'E.T'?" asked Sarah. "I've been asking all over and still nobody knows."

Lysander's face dropped but Tancred just said, "Why?"

"Because I saw Emma Tolly drawing one day about those initials with hearts around them." said Sarah in a low whisper so that only the two boys could hear.

Tancred's heart gave a leap. Was it her initials and his together?

Lysander gulped and looked at Tancred.

"Was it two people's initials or one?" asked Tancred, trying to contain his eagerness.

"One person," said Sarah. "It would be her crush I reckon. A boy with the first name that starts with 'E' and his last anem that starts with 'T', just like hers."

Tancred froze and Lysander coughed. "We'll talk to you later about that Sarah,"

Sarah noticed the look on Tancred's face and she looked startled. "Tancred, are you okay?" Sarah asked.

"He'll be fine, just probably a little stunned." said Lysander hastily. "Turn around Tancred. Tanc, turn _around_!"

Tancred slowly turned back to the front of the classroom, his heart into two. All he was thinking about was Elijah. What was Elijah's last name anyway? He had to know. Later that night, he'd have to ask him before they enter the King's Room.

His shock had turned into anger and envy. He laid his head down on his desk as wind picked up. Each student's cape fluttered around and they glared at Tancred while they grasped their capes.

"Tancred, knock it off." hissed Lysander. "Just concentrate just for once."

"Oh, I'll be concentrating alright." Tancred growled. Tancred didn't like this feeling. He was feeling jealous of a new boy who he was good friends with. He didn't feel like mending his heart at the moment either. His hair crackled and he jumped at his own thunder.

It started to rain in the classroom. His classmates yelped and shrieked as they lifted up their capes or hid underneath the desks.

"Tancred Torsson!" the teacher barked. "Out!" The teacher pointed towards the door and Tancred grudgingly got up and left.

The door slammed behind him and the rain followed him, sprinkling his blonde hair with water. Lightning flickered and he glared up at his own thunder cloud. "Yeah, rain on me then!"

Thunder rolled and his own rain grew worse. He was soaked in his own rain. He ducked his head, feeling the pounding raindrops on his back. The wind was no help at all; it kept on blowing his cape and chilling him. His hair was no longer stiff and spiky. He shuddered and cursed under his breath.

"Tancred?"

Tancred looked up and reddened, turning away. It was Emma. Emma stared at a soaking wet Tancred who was obviously not in a good mood. He was puddling and shivering and he crossed his arms.

"Tancred, are you okay?" Emma asked gently as she stepped up closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" Tancred said harshly.

Emma, paying no mind to his tone, said, "I was just getting a drink but then I saw you. And, well, it's hard not to notice rain drops and thunder in the middle of the corridor."

Tancred turned his attention to her. If what Sarah said was true, then he'd let her have it. He didn't care if Emma knew anymore. If she liked Elijah, then fine!

He was about to yell at her but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he snarled, "How could you?"

Emma looked at Tancred's hurt face for a second. "How could I what?" she asked in a small voice. Emma felt scared of Tancred in the first time in her life. She was surprised to see tears running down her cheek. "Tancred..."

"I heard what you drew." Tancred spat. "Those initials. Sarah Nelson told me about it. The whole school knows!"

Emma's heart skipped a beat. The whole school knows? The whole school knows about her crush on him? Is this what he was mad about?

"What are you saying?" Emma choked.

"Don't you know what that picture does to me?" Tancred scowled. "Look at me! This is what it's doing to me!"

_It's all about reputation, isn't it? _Emma thought miserably. Tancred had tears in his eyes now and so did Emma. Feeling humiliated and hurt, Emma cried, "I don't even _care_ about you anymore Tancred! I don't _get_ you! If this is what you want, then _fine_! I don't care!"

Emma spun around, heavy tears leaking out of her eyes, and ran. She ran around the corner and into the girls bathroom and into the first stall and cried.

Tancred turned around and kicked the wall in anger. The door opened and his teacher glared at him. "What is all the yelling about? Do I have to keep you from going to the dance?"

"Go ahead, it's not like I have anybody to go with," Tancred snapped.

"That's it, I'll go get Dr. Bloor right away." the teacher said curtly.

"No need," said a voice. "I noticed there was a stormy event in these hall. I heard it from my study." Dr. Bloor came walking calmly down the corridor on Tancred's left. He stood before Tancred. Dr. Bloor towered over him and said, "Office, now."

Tancred, brokenhearted and turbulent, he followed Dr. Bloor into his office, and this time, leaving the rain and wind behind to linger in the halls.


	11. Chapter Ten

"Sure, why not?"

Charlie felt like he could jump up and whoop. But all he could do was say, "Okay, see you Saturday."

Olivia grinned and flounced off to her group of giggly friends. Charlie felt relieved that it was over and he felt his face burn. He turned away to go tell the guys but then he caught sight of a forlorn Emma sitting under the same tree she was at when Tancred was going out with Tracy Morsell.

He wandered over to Emma. She looked up, tears glistening in the sunlight. The rain had gone away midway through second period and the sun was out. Emma, however, was gloomy even with the sun.

"Em, what's up?"

Emma shook her head. "Is it true?" she whispered hoarsely. "Does everyone know?"

"Know what?" Charlie asked, though he had a bad hunch he knew what she was talking about. "The rumor, huh? It hurts, doesn't it? People assuming you like this one person."

Emma sniffed. "They're right."

Charlie gaped at her. "Huh?"

"They know I like him." said Emma wistfully.

"What do you mean? What did _you_ he-"

"Please Charlie, I...I don't want to talk about it." Emma gasped. "Besides..." Emma narrowed her eyes. "I don't think I'm friends with him any more."

She stood up. "I'm so sorry you have to see me like this," she said, her sad face reappearing. "It's just so hard to see that the one you care about doesn't feel the same way."

She left Charlie standing there, looking puzzled.

* * *

Later that day, the endowed sat down around the table as usual for their homework. Tancred was bitter and sat as far away as possible from Emma and vice versa. Gabriel, Billy, and Lysander noticed this and they all looked at Charlie, who mouthed, 'I'll explain later.'

Elijah was too busy focusing on his work to notice this but he was also preparing on how to ask Emma. After homework, when they all piled out of the room, Tancred left quickly and was half way down the hall when Emma first stepped out.

"What happened?" Gabriel whispered to Charlie.

Elijah, suddenly interested, walked close to them with Billy and Lysander close behind him.

"From what I know, Emma and Tancred aren't friends right now. It's all about the rumor." whispered Charlie. Emma wasn't paying attention of them. She looked down at her feet as she trailed slowly behind the boys.

Gabriel looked back. "No wonder she's so upset. I haven't seen her this sad since Morsell."

"I feel sorry for her," said Billy sadly.

"We all do." said Gabriel.

"So, now what?" asked Lysander.

"No idea..." said Charlie.

They were all silent for a second.

"Oops, hey, you guys." Elijah stopped, looking behind him and patting his pocket. "I left my pencil. I'll be right back."

He ran towards the King's Room, past Emma and into the doors.

The boys turned around the corner as Elijah emerged from the doors. Emma was still walking silently towards the art dormitories and Elijah thought that this would be the perfect time to ask. He ran towards her, ignoring the slightest pinch in his mind.

"Hey Emma."

Emma glanced up. "Hi Elijah,"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Emma gloomily.

Elijah looked into her eyes. "Emma, there's something wrong. You can tell me."

Emma felt a queer feeling in her mind but she surpassed it. "Maybe later,"

Elijah sighed. Now for the question. "Emma, are you going to the dance?"

"Not that I know of." she said sulkily.

"Do you want to?"

"Well, I suppose so."

Elijah gave a little pause, just as if an idea just popped into his head. "Hmm, well, would you go with me?"

Emma looked up at him.

"As friends, of course." he added.

Emma tilted her head in thought. _Maybe I don't have to control her mind after all..._Elijah thought.

"Sure, why not." Emma said finally. "I guess going is better than staying home and sulking."

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better Em," said Elijah earnestly. Emma gave him a small smile and went up the stairs to her dorm when they reached it. Elijah continued to the music dorms and he had a slight urge to grin smugly.

* * *

"Tancred, just because she doesn't like you doesn't mean that you can go around and cause tornadoes!" Lysander cried as furious winds whipped around his hair.

The boys in their dorms were hanging on to their bed posts with dear life as Tancred stormed around, cursing. Papers and pillows flew around and the curtains fluttered dangerously.

"Tancred!" Lysander snapped. "Matron's going to get you in major trouble!"

"Listen to him!" a boy yelled as he stumbled into the bathroom. There was a loud thud and a quick, "Ow!"

"Man, you okay?" another boy called, ducking as a book flew above his head.

"Someone tackle him!" a boy yelled.

The door flung open and Matron stood there, looking infuriated. She hung onto the door frame and she yelled at the top of her voice, "CONTROL YOURSELVES!"

Tancred, in surprise, stopped the fast winds and looked at her, a scowl taking over his face.

"Detention!" Matron snapped. "To all of you except Torsson. Torsson will be assigned kitchen duty for all of the departments for the entire month. Now straighten up and get to bed, all of you!"

She slammed the door, satisfied in her punishment. The winds were no more and Tancred stood there, fuming.

"This is what you get for sharing a dorm with one of the endowed," a boy muttered to his friend as they straightened out their beds.

As soon as everything was back to normal, they washed up and climbed into their beds, exhausted.

Tancred was sitting on his bed, his head buried into his hands.

Lysander sat next to him and patted him on the shoulders. "It's not the end of the world." he said. "It's not like you know for a fact she likes him. You didn't even ask him what his last name was."

"But it's him, wasn't it?" Tancred moaned. "She was talking about him. Who else do we know with those initials that's not a girl?"

"No one, but we don't know for a fact that it's him." Lysander said firmly. "Now get some rest."

"I can't." said Tancred angrily. "I can't knowing this. I don't want to hold an angst on Elijah but I don't want to let go of the girl of my dreams!"

A boy sat up and remarked, "The girl of your dreams? That's a little too much even for you Torsson,"

Shut up Avery," Tancred snarled.

There was a quiet knock on the door and every single boy in the dorm froze, eyes darting to the door in fear.

"It's Matron, I bet it is!" a boy whispered.

Lysander sprung off of Tancred's bed and answered the door casually. "Oh, Sarah. You gave us a scare." Lysander sighed in relieved, swinging the door wide open to show a girl with a concerned face and a flashlight.

"What are you doing here?" a boy asked. "This is the boys dormitory. Go back to your own."

"I need to talk to Tancred." she said firmly.

Lysander stepped aside and Sarah entered the dorm. She glanced at Tancred, who was staring at his feet.

"Tancred," she said softly, walking with Lysander to his bed. "I know why you're upset. But I have good news for you."

"What?" Tancred snapped.

"That picture was drawn before he came." said Sarah, hoping that Tancred understood what she was saying.

Tancred blinked. He looked up and gaped. "What?"

"The picture Em drew, with the initials, that was drawn before he came." said Sarah in a low voice so only he and Lysander could hear.

Tancred felt a smile creeping onto his face. "There's hope left!" he said excitedly. "There's still hope!"

Sarah nodded. "Just thought you'd like to know. That and my friends are a little tired of you raining over them in fifth period. They sit in front of you, you know."

"Oh, right. Tell them that I'm sorry." said Tancred. Sarah left the dorm and Tancred grinned up at Lysander. "There's still a chance!"

"Gosh Tancred, that's great." said Lysander, laughing. "But isn't she a bit ticked off?"

"Who cares? I'll apologize and explain myself. She won't hold a grudge on me!" Tancred whispered. He can finally go to sleep peacefully. He slid into bed with a grin and turned off his lamp. "Night," he yawned, pulling over his covers and closing his eyes into a restful sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Tancred woke with lifted spirits. He wanted to talk with Emma with all his heart when she sat down for breakfast. He wasn't disheartened when she didn't look up to acknowledge him when he sat down across from her. She stirred her cold cereal around without an expression.

"Emma, I have to talk to you." said Tancred in a low voice. He didn't want anyone else listening in.

Emma didn't say anything. In her mind, though, she was listening, but only half-heartedly.

"Emma, yesterday, it was all a misunderstanding. I shouldn't have yelled or rained on you. I'm sorry for all of that. I didn't mean it at all."

Emma stayed silent, starting to regret her decision to go to the dance with Elijah.

"So, do you forgive me?"

Emma stopped her stirring, as it was useless, and gazed up into Tancred's eyes. They were sincere and hopeful. The lest she could do was say yes.

"Yes, I forgive you." Emma heard herself say.

Tancred grinned and Emma smiled back at him.

"So, er, now that we're on good terms..." Tancred said casually.

Emma's heart sank but they lifted at the same time.

"I was wondering if you, well, like to go to the dance with me?"

Emma felt her heart burst. She was ecstatic that he actually asked her but she was sullen that she had to say no.

"Tancred, I would go with you, but, someone beat you to me first." Emma said softly.

Tancred's smile vanished. "What?" Had he heard correctly? Someone else beat him to her? Who?

"I'm sorry Tancred, but Elijah asked me yesterday, but maybe because he saw that I was a little down."

Tancred felt a shock run up his spine. So it really _was_ him. But Sarah said that Emma drew the initials before he came. So then how? _I did it. _Tancred thought bitterly. _If I hadn't upset her, he wouldn't have asked in the first place!_

"Tancred?"

Tancred looked at Emma and forced a smile. "Oh well, I guess there's next time if you're up for it."

Emma gave Tancred an apologetic smile. "I'll wait for you," she whispered to herself.

"Hmm?"

Emma blushed and bowed her head to her cereal. "Never mind."

Lysander sat down and sighed. "I don't think waiting ten minutes in line for cereal is worth it."

"Wait until you're hungry." mused Emma.

Lysander groaned. "You're right. So, have you two worked everything out?"

Emma and Tancred avoided his eyes and focused more on their breakfast.

_Please tell me that's embarrassment and not awkwardness..._ Lysander thought desperately.

"Yeah, we're cool." Tancred said weakly.

_Awkwardness...why that? _Lysander thought. "So, er, Emma. Who are you going to the dance with?"

Tancred stood up and excused himself. He left the cafeteria with winds following him.

"Elijah," said Emma quietly.

"Oh...why?"

"Well, yesterday he saw that I was sad so I guess...he just asked." Emma murmured. She got up and said, "I'm sorry Lysander, but I don't feel like having breakfast anymore."

She left the cafeteria, leaving Lysander in his puzzled thoughts.


	12. Chapter Eleven

The night of the dance was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was dressed up and not one of them had not been fussed over at home when they were preparing.

Lysander had forced Tancred to go, even though Tancred felt like striking up every one of them, and was now sitting down on one of the many chairs sulkily. His hair was stiffer than ever and his glare was more menacing.

Lysander didn't have a date, mainly because the Bloor's wouldn't allow Lauren to come. They had said that no outsiders are welcomed.

"Tanc, come on. Don't loiter around all night. Chat with some people, laugh a little, have something to eat, get something to drink. Anything but sitting down and scowling." Lysander said, tugging at Tancred's arm.

Tancred tugged his arm out of Lysander's grip and sighed. "How can I have fun if she's out there with _him_?"

"Tancred, you're not going to be jealous of him, are you? How do we know if he likes her? Maybe he did it out of kindness."

Tancred shot a glance up at Lysander. "You're not going to give up, are you?"

"No, not really."

Tancred reluctantly stood up. "I guess it's out of kindness. Besides, just because she's out with him, doesn't mean I can't dance with her. People sometime exchange dance partners. Right?"

"Er, yeah. That's the spirit." Lysander said happily.

"And I _am_ kinda thirsty." said Tancred.

"So am I. Lecturing is a lot harder than you think." said Lysander seriously. "And have you seen the glasses? They're made of glass!"

"What was your first clue?" Tancred scoffed jokingly.

"No, I mean, I'm surprised they aren't afraid that we'd break them." said Lysander, picking up a glass and continuing to the punch bowl.

"What did you think we'd do? Throw them? We may have some reckless people, but they're not stupid." said Tancred, holding out his glass so Lysander can fill it with punch.

"True, I guess they don't have anything to worry about other than an accident." said Lysander.

"Accident prones everywhere, stay out of here." Tancred muttered, sipping from his glass.

Lysander chuckled. He stopped abruptly when he saw Emma and Elijah dancing. He glanced back at Tancred who was muttering to himself. "What flavor is this anyway?"

"Er, Tancred, let's go say hi to some people. Hey, look! There's Charlie and Liv!" Lysander said quickly. He dragged Tancred over to Charlie and Olivia, relieved that Tancred hadn't spotted Emma.

"Hey you guys," Charlie greeted as Olivia waved.

"Looks like you two are getting along." said Lysander.

"Yeah, but did they have to pick slow songs? I feel like an adult." said Olivia.

"Yeah, and you certainly don't want to feel like an adult." said Tancred sarcastically.

"Shut up,"

"I didn't know so many people would actually slow dance. Thought they would just stand away from the center of the room and avoid dancing." said Lysander, glancing around.

"Well, it's either that or getting in trouble with the Bloor's." said Tancred. "They're dancing out of fear."

"Not me," said Olivia.

"Nor me." said Charlie.

"Okay, except you two lovebirds." said Tancred, rolling his eyes.

"So where are your dates? Or are you two stags?" Olivia grinned.

"Lauren isn't allowed in." said Lysander gloomily. "The Bloor's say that they don't let in 'outsiders'. Wonder what they mean by that."

"Maybe because Lauren doesn't go to this school," said Tancred pointedly.

"Well, other than that."

"No, I think that's it." Tancred said.

Lysander shook his head and then his gaze stopped on Emma and Elijah, who were coming their way.

"Hi you guys," Emma said. She was looking like she was having a lot of fun, much to Lysander's dismay.

Tancred's grin stayed on his face. "Hey Em. Hey Elijah."

Lysander and Charlie exchanged startled looks and Olivia released Charlie's hands and looked into Emma's eyes.

"So, how's the dance so far?" asked Elijah.

"Er..." Charlie looked at Lysander for back up.

"It's going great. A little too slow but I guess it's okay." said Olivia. Good 'ol Livvy backing up her friends.

"Great." said Elijah. "Er, Tancred. Could I talk to you?"

Tancred nodded and he and Elijah left the group to an isolated corner near the windows.

"Hey, since you, you know, fancy Emma, why don't you dance with her?" Elijah said quietly, careful not to let anyone else hear. in.

Tancred felt a pang of guiltiness. Elijah didn't like Emma. Lysander was right. He asked out of sympathy. He felt guilty because he was hating on a nice guy so he grinned and said, "Sure."

"Go ahead. I'm hungry anyway. Go have fun," Elijah said, pushing Tancred towards the group.

"Wait,"

Tancred looked at Elijah. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

Elijah shrugged. "You could say that to everybody Tanc, now what are you waiting for? Go get her!"

Tancred smiled at Elijah and they knuckle touched each other. Tancred approached Emma, who was talking to Olivia.

"Em, would you care to dance?" asked Tancred, trying not to sound eager.

Emma glanced over at Elijah, who was nodding with a grin. She smiled at Tancred and accepted.

They made their way to the dance floor. Tancred grasped Emma's hand and place his free hand on her waist. Emma rested her hand on Tancred's shoulder and Tancred led.

"Emma, you look amazing." murmured Tancred.

Emma blushed. "Thank you. You look really smart,"

"Em, I'm not that smart."

Emma giggled and Tancred finally felt that satisfying whoop in his head. He couldn't help but smile, since it was tugging at his mouth ever since Emma said yes.

Lysander, Charlie, Olivia, and Elijah watched from their place. "Awww, they look so cute together!" Olivia said with a tearful voice.

"Cut it out Liv," mused Lysander.

"That was really nice of you Elijah." said Charlie.

"That was nothing. I knew he fancies her so I handed her over."

Olivia sighed. "I wish I brought my camera. This would be prefect in my scrapbook."

Elijah nodded. Then he stopped. "I just forgot..."

"Forgot what?" asked Lysander.

"I'm hungry..." Elijah said as he wandered off to the snack bar.

Charlie laughed. Olivia tugged at his sleeves. "Come on. We have to finish our dance. Lysander, I'll dance with you next after I dance with Charlie."

Lysander shrugged. "Sure. Beats standing around and doing nothing."

The two disappeared into the crowd. Lysander looked back at Tancred and Emma. Emma had her head on Tancred's chest and Tancred was murmuring inaudible words to Emma, who was red in the face.

The song finished after a couple of quick minutes and they slowly and wistfully made their way back to their friends. Olivia had already dragged a reluctant Lysander to the dance floor, awaiting the next song. Charlie was munching thoughtfully on a cookie that had an unusual but tasteful flavor. Elijah was too, remarking that it was either apple cinnamon or pumpkin spice.

"No, more like chocolate mint." Charlie said. He looked at Emma and Tancred with approval. "You're both red and, no offense, sweaty."

Elijah chuckled. "You two wanna go on and dance again?"

"Nah, take a break and then I'll hit the dance floor." said Tancred. "Hey, let me see that cookie. I'll tell you what it tastes like."

"It's unique, isn't it?" Cook's voice said from behind him.

"Cook!" Charlie exclaimed. "What did you put in here?"

"Oh I can't tell you that. Then you'd know my secret recipe." Cook said, her eyes twinkling. Her eyes stopped on Elijah and she curiously thought, _Could he be? But what is he?_

"Hello there, I'm Cook. I believe you're in the music department, correct?"

"Yes, I play the viola." said Elijah.

"Ah. How come I never see you? I cook for the music department." said Cook, ruffling Elijah's hair.

Laughing, Elijah replied, "Maybe because your assistants always get to me first."

"Huh, well I'll have to see you sometime at the lines." said Cook. "Where do you come from?"

"I used to live in an orphanage in London." said Elijah. "I lived there most of my life until I moved here with my foster parents. Before that I lived in Dover, near Ashford."

"Oh, well was it cheerful in the orphanage?"

"It wasn't exactly to my fancy but it was decent enough to survive ten or so years." said Elijah.

Cook felt a little sorry for the boy, but she felt like there was something a little unusual about him. She knew he was endowed, she could sense that, but she wasn't sure if he was one of the rare ones.

"Well, welcome to Bloor's."

"What's the flavor anyway?" asked Tancred, who was examining his cookie that he stole from Charlie.

"Oh, I can't tell. Maybe not now." said Cook.

"Tell me first if you decide to tell." said Tancred. "This is my new favorite cookie flavor."

"Can I try?" asked Emma.

Tancred stole another cookie from Charlie, who was shooting him a dirty look, and gave it to Emma. Giving Charlie an apologetic look, Emma bit into the soft cookie and sighed in approval. "It's heaven," she said softly.

"Thank you, Emma dear. I better go. The punch bowl is almost empty." Cook said worriedly as a girl was trying to get the last few drops of the punch.

She hurried off out the doors to the kitchens.

Olivia and Lysander came back from the dance. Lysander had a pained look on his face and was limping and Olivia looked slightly amused.

"What happened?" Emma asked, glancing down at Lysander's feet.

"Olivia's heels are sharp." said Lysander huskily, sitting down on the nearest chair.

Olivia tossed her auburn hair back. "Well I'm sorry that I have pencil heels, they were one of the only shoes that match my outfit."

"Forget the outfit!" Lysander said, bewildered. "Next time go barefooted!"

Tancred smirked. "Yeah, and soil your feet. Why didn't you wear the other shoes?"

"Because I didn't like them." said Olivia coolly. "Well, I liked them but they were just drab. I have no other comment, they were just drab for my outfit."

"Emma, get your pencil. You're designing Liv new dresses. Ones that goes with harmless shoes." Lysander moaned.

"Oh shut up Sage," Olivia snapped.

"Hey guys,"

Everyone turned around. "Hi Gabe!" said Charlie. "Where were you?"

"Sorry I didn't come here first thing. You know Amelia Vine?"

"Yea, why?"

Gabriel glanced around worriedly. "She keeps asking me do dance. That was my fifth time and I had to escape."

"Oh, sorry to hear that." said Charlie smugly.

Gabriel gave Charlie a look before saying, "The next time you see her, tell her I left."

"And if you're with me?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Make something up." He started when his name was called and hastily apologized and disappeared into the crowd.

The next song was playing and Olivia dragged Charlie away. Elijah grinned at Tancred. "You dancing up next?"

Tancred tilted his head in thought. "Maybe...what do I get?"

"Tancred!"

"Alright, fine. The next one. I gotta go and eat some more." said Tancred, rolling his eyes.

He left the group and Lysander tsked. "I'm surprised it hasn't stormed yet."

"What do you mean?" asked Elijah.

"Usually, he'd storm whether he's angry or over excited."

"I thought when he's over excited wind blows."

"When I mean 'over excited', I mean very over excited." muttered Lysander. He got up from his chair. "My feet healed pretty good. I'm gonna go hide in the boys bathroom or Liv would torture me out on the dance floor."

When Lysander left, Elijah felt the evilness in his head come back to life. _Now to tear them apart even more. _He thought.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Tancred was getting a drink after he gulped down some of Mrs. Weedon's cooking. Cook has said that she cooked some of the food, but she didn't mention that the other cooks were minding the food either. He didn't realize that it was Mrs. Weedon's cooking until he chocked on a few strands of hair and pulled it out, revealing it to be the same shade of her hair.

He spat it out into the trash bin, hoping to be exchanged to the music department.

He was making his way back but then Lysander was leaning against the wall, grasping his foot.

"Sander, that pose won't get you the ladies. I know for a fact." mused Tancred.

"My feet was trampled over again." said Lysander. "Three times."

"How?"

"Well, let's just say this one girl couldn't make up her mind on where to go first." he said through gritted teeth.

Tancred had an urge to laugh. "Well, good luck avoiding a couple more feet tonight." Tancred said. "You have a few hours left to go. Hope you'll make it out with both your feet."

He made his way back to his friends, still chuckling to himself.

He took another drink of punch as he weaved in and out of the students. He saw a glance of Charlie and Olivia, red faced and laughing. After that, he felt like taking Emma back onto the dance floor.

"Hey Emma, I-"

He stopped, shocked.

Emma was kissing Elijah, who was looking at her, bewildered.

The glass in Tancred's hand broke and punch splattered the floor, his hand bloodied.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

"Tancred!" Lysander shouted outside of his dorm. He had seen what happened. Tancred was paralyzed and he suddenly bolted out the doors and up the stairs. Lysander had followed him but not quick enough to catch up. Tancred had locked himself in his dorm.

"Tancred, open up!"

He paced around nervously. He spun back towards the door and pounded on it. "Tancred!"

"Go away!" came Tancred's muffled angry answer.

"Tancred, I know how you feel! Just, just let me in!"

When Tancred didn't answer or unlock the door, Lysander bolted down the stairs.

"Charlie!" Lysander gasped as he saw Charlie grabbing a few snacks. Charlie looked up, startled.

"Sander, what's wrong?" he asked, sensing the urgency in Lysander's cry.

"It's Tancred, he saw Emma kissing Elijah and he's locked himself in his dorm." Lysander said in a low voice.

"Oh no," Charlie looked around. "Where's Emma?"

"I have no idea." Lysander said in a whisper. "The last time I saw her she was lip locking with him."

Charlie followed Lysander out the door. When they got up to the dormitory, they could hear the howl of the wind and soft rain drops. "Tancred?"

An angry and very muffled response came from the other side of the door, which both boys couldn't make out. "Tancred, can you at least open the door?" Lysander cried.

There was a long pause before the door flung open. Lysander and Charlie were greeted by blasts of air and a flimsy wall of rain. Tancred was glaring at them. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"To talk." said Charlie.

"About what?" Tancred scoffed. "There's nothing to talk about." The wind died down to a slight breeze and the rain vanished. "It's obvious that she likes him, not me. I'll have to move on."

"Are you hearing what you're saying?" Lysander boomed. "Listen to yourself mate, you've let your emotions disappear."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Tancred said coolly and yet somewhat lost.

Charlie started as Lysander smacked Tancred upside the head with a hard thud. Tancred took a half step back, a look of shock and reality returning to his face. "_Ow_!" he hissed.

"Sorry Tanc, but it had to be done." Lysander said.

Tancred groaned and plopped down on his bed. "What am I gonna do Sander? My heart's in pieces and I feel like I want to...you know."

"Burst?" Charlie suggested weakly.

"Sort of,"

The wind died down completely as Tancred stared dazedly at the ceiling. "Do I have to forget about it? Maybe a nice hypnotist can make me forget about her."

"You're giving up?" Lysander and Charlie said incredulously.

"You can't give up! You're Tancred. Tancred Torsson." Charlie said.

"And Torsson's never give up!" said Lysander.

"Maybe this is the first time one will." said Tancred dully.

Lysander and Charlie exchanged quick glances, seeing that their friend has gone into a state where he would be emotionless once more.

"Smack him again. It worked once so it's gotta work twice." Charlie muttered.

"I don't think I can," Lysander grunted as drums started to beat. "I'm getting a major migraine."

* * *

When Charlie arrived back home, he saw Uncle Paton in the kitchen, a danish in hand. "Hello Charlie," he said. Then he saw Charlie's expression. "What happened? Did you have a good night?"

"_I_ did, but Tancred didn't." said Charlie gloomily. Charlie related the story to Uncle Paton, who listened attentively.

"Oh dear. And how did Emma react to this?"

"Er..." Charlie scratched his head as he hung up his coat and pulled up a chair. "I didn't really see her later. Sander and I told everyone else and Olivia went to talk to Emma. I didn't stick around long enough to see what Emma said."

"Why not?"

"Because Manfred was on the warpath." said Charlie, giving a smile. "Someone ripped a tapestry that was hanging in the ballroom and the second the dance was over he ordered everyone out."

Paton tsked. "Well, this is a bad situation, isn't it?"

Charlie nodded. "I don't know if I can trust Elijah now. I mean, he's nice, but then ever since he came, trouble starts up."

"Charlie my boy, you _do_ realize that trouble arouses _before_ he even came here." said Paton.

"You have a point..."

They froze as Grandma Bone's sharp voice called out from the rails of the stairs, "Is that boy there? Tell him to quiet down! Wouldn't he be readying himself for bed? Paton, are you eating my danish?"

Paton glanced down at the danish and jumped up, the chair scraping backwards on the floor. He opened the refrigerator and tossed the half eaten danish in recklessly. "No!" he called back, winking at a smirking Charlie.

They heard a faint 'Hmph!' and a door slamming. The two sighed. Grandma Bone moody all of the sudden these few past weeks. No one really knew why, and everyone ignored it, even poking a little fun with it.

Paton eventually sent Charlie to get ready for bed around eleven and Charlie, ready to rest his troubled mind, obeyed obediently. His wand/moth greeted him when he reached the bathroom.

It fluttered to his shoulder and Charlie felt better. He sloppily brushed his teeth and undressed out of his dress pants and shirt and tie and got into pajama pants a a t-shirt. Easing into bed and seeing his moth landing onto his bookshelf on the other side of the room, opposite of the bed, his eyes slowly closed and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Olivia returned home, feeling empty. She undressed and got into her sleep clothes: sweatpants and a tee. When she had went to confront Emma about the kiss, Emma had admitted that she had, indeed, kissed Elijah.

"Why?" Olivia had asked.

"Oh, I don't know Livvy," Emma had breathed. "I just had a feeling."

"What kind of feeling?"

Emma had paused right here, thinking. "I'm not sure. It's like my adrenaline just rushed through my whole body. It's pleasant."

Olivia groaned as she crawled into bed. "Oh Emma, what am I going to do with you?" she whispered. If any of this is going to keep up, Tancred would be a mess, not that he already is.

* * *

The next morning, she awoke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. She heard her mother, Mrs. Vertigo, answer the door. After a few moments, when Olivia had sat up and rubbed her eyes, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called.

The door opened and Emma's face peeked in. "Olivia?"

"Emma, what a surprise. What are you doing here on a Sunday morning?" asked Olivia, yawning.

"Erm, well, I thought long and hard about what you said yesterday, about Tancred." said Emma shyly.

"You have?" Olivia looked at Emma with alertness, swinging her feet over the bedsides.

"Yes," said Emma. She entered the room and gently closed the door and sat down on Olivia's bed. She took a deep breath and said, "I can't stand seeing him hurt. I suppose..." She gave a chiding laugh. "I suppose I like him more than I thought. But..."

"But what?"

"I don't even know what to do."

There was a silence. "Erm..." Olivia looked away. "I guess you'll have to talk to him."

"But Liv, what if he doesn't want to talk?" Emma asked fearfully.

"He'll want to talk." said Olivia, tossing the covers away. "I know he will."

Emma sighed. "I'll...I'll talk to him soon."

"How soon? Don't put it off until later Em!" Olivia said urgently. "Get up, let's go to his place."

"Oh, I can't." said Emma sadly. "I have to come back to the bookstore right away. I'm just here to talk for a little bit. Bye Olivia."

Emma got up and gave Olivia a small smile before leaving the room.

* * *

"Open up!" Olivia yelled at a door, pounding on it so the Torssons could hear it. There was a devastating wind whirling around the trees and leaves were bombarding Olivia.

The door opened and a woman smiled down at Olivia. "Olivia, thank goodness. You don't happen to know a way to calm Tancred down, do you?"

"Unfortunately no but I can try to help. That's why I'm here." said Olivia.

"Well you better come in dear. The wind's gotten to you, hasn't it?" said Mrs. Torsson as she hurried Olivia in.

The door closed and Olivia could relax. The cold wind had numbed her face and ears. "Would you like a drink Olivia?" asked Mrs. Torsson. "Hot chocolate? Tea? Juice?"

"Erm, hot chocolate I suppose. Thank you." said Olivia, looking around.

"Tancred's in his room dear. Mr. Torsson's trying to talk to him too." said Mrs. Torsson. "I'll bring up the hot chocolate when it's ready."

"Thank you Mrs. Torsson." said Olivia, ascending the stairs to her right.

She felt a distinct coldness as she stepped onto the landing. She suddenly wished she had brought a thicker jacket along. "Tancred, calm down." she heard Mr. Torsson's voice boom over the empty howls.

Olivia peered over the rails and said, "Mr. Torsson?"

Mr. Torsson looked over his shoulder at Olivia. "Ah, Olivia. Would you help Tancred calm down? It's not too bad but the wind is getting slightly annoying."

"That's why I'm here." said Olivia.

"Er, he won't open the door. He's been in bed all morning and it's worrying Mrs. Torsson and I."

"No problem. I can try to talk to him." said Olivia. She knocked on the door. "Tancred? Can you please open the door?"

She stepped back. Nothing happened so she tried again, only increasingly louder. "Tancred Torsson! If you don't open the door, I'll knock it down!"

She spun around to Mr. Torsson and whispered, "Not really, but a good harmless threat isn't too bad."

The door opened and the wind died instantly. Tancred glared at looked at Olivia. "What is it?" he asked wearily.

"I want to talk to you." said Olivia.

"If it's about her, I don't want to. She picks him, doesn't she? I'm a fool to believe she liked me." he murmured, backing up into his room.

"That's not true. She just came to talk to me and how sorry she was about it. She's afraid to talk to you because she thinks you'd be angry with her." said Olivia softly.

"Well what can I do?" asked Tancred. "I can't make her like me. She likes _him_.?"

Olivia glanced back at Mr. Torsson. "Erm..."

"Ah, say no more. This is a personal issue." said Mr. Torsson, raising his hands up as he backed away. He descended the stairs and once he was gone, Olivia entered Tancred's room.

"Tanc, I know how upset you are." said Olivia. "But you have to pull yourself together. If you don't I can either get you an expensive therapy session or cheap but miraculously effective bubble wrap. Your choice. But whatever you pick, please don't pick therapy. It's most likely a scam. And bubble wrap is more fun."

"Liv, this isn't funny." said Tancred, his voice cracking slightly.

Olivia sighed. "Okay, okay. I got it. Message received. But Emma likes you. I know that. You like her, she likes you."

"Then why did she kiss..." Tancred's voice stopped at the word 'kiss'.

"Erm...I have a theory but I don't know if it sounds like him or not." said Olivia weakly. She didn't feel like telling Tancred, or anyone for that matter, about her theory. It sounded like she was accusing Elijah.

"What?" Tancred demanded.

"You wanna know?"

"Yes, anything!"

"I think she wasn't herself when it happened." breathed Olivia with a pained face.

"_What_?"

Olivia retold Tancred what she had heard Emma say yesterday. How it was a feeling that she suddenly have.

"So you think it was Elijah's fault?" said Tancred slowly.

"Gosh I don't know! I don't want to accuse him. He's so sweet but that's what it seems like." said Olivia.

Tancred was silent. Olivia sighed. "I guess that's all I have to say.

"Olivia, your hot chocolate is ready." said Mrs. Torsson's voice as she neared the open door.

Her face peeked in. "Tancred, are you alright?" she asked softly as she handed Olivia the cup of hot chocolate.

"I'm fine mom." said Tancred calmly.

Olivia retreated to the chair she was sitting on and Mrs. Torsson went back downstairs to the kitchen.

There was a small silence again. Then Tancred stood up from his bed and grabbed his jacket from his closet.

"Where are you going?" asked Olivia.

"I'm hunting down Emma." said Tancred as he left the room hurriedly.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

"Gee Tanc, you don't look so good." said Lysander as Tancred walked into the Pet's Cafe. Gabriel handed Tancred one of his gerbils and Tancred accepted the furry creature and petted it subconsciously.

Olivia was there too, with Lysander, Gabriel, Charlie, Billy, Fidelio, and Benjamin.

Runner Bean happily jumped onto Tancred's lap as he sat down next to Benjamin. "Sorry Tancred," said Benjamin. "Down Runner, eat your biscuit."

"How was Emma?" asked Billy.

Tancred shook his head sullenly. "I didn't find her. Miss Ingledew said that she went to the park for a stroll and when I went to the park, she wasn't there."

"Oh..." Billy looked around. Rembrandt squeaked and squirmed out of Billy's hands and onto the table. Sniffing one of Gabriel's gerbil.

"I haven't seen her all day." said Charlie.

"I only saw her this morning. I haven't seen her this afternoon though." said Olivia worriedly.

"I'm sure she's fine." said Gabriel.

"Yeah, maybe she's at the library, or maybe at another friend's." said Lysander.

Tancred shook his head. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up guys."

"What do you mean _trying_? Heck Tanc, we'll do _anything_ to cheer you and Emma up. _All_ of us will be willing to cheer any of us up if we're down. Now stop the wind before they all gang up on you." Olivia lectured, eying the other costumers as they eyed them back.

"Sorry," Tancred muttered as the wind calmed.

Everyone looked at each other cautiously.

* * *

Emma breathed heavily. _What's wrong with me? _She thought quickly. She sat against a big tree and clutched her knees close to her. She had heard Tancred calling for her. Not knowing what to do, she hid.

"Get a grip Em," she told herself harshly. "He won't be mad." But a sinking feeling in her stomach told her that he wouldn't be in the mood to talk. That is, if Olivia was right about Tancred liking her.

She couldn't think that he would like her, even if he did like her before the kiss he sure wouldn't like her now.

She sat there for a moment before she decided to get off the ground and walk back home.

On the way home, she heard someone calling her name from behind.

Turning around, she watched Tancred running towards her. Half of her wanted to see him but the other half wanted to forget him. Torn between the two halves didn't feel too good.

Tancred reached her and he panted. "Emma, I've been looking all _over_ for you. Where _were_ you?"

Emma froze. "Erm...I was just out walking."

"Is it true then?"

Emma looked down at her feet. "It wasn't me doing it though." she said softly.

"Pardon?"

Emma looked up.

"Are you saying that you didn't do it? Did you have a twin sister? Because that girl right then and there looked exactly like you." said Tancred sourly. He stopped. He sighed as if something heavy has been lifted from his shoulders.

Emma hadn't noticed this. She was too busy randomly counting the cracks in the sidewalk. Then she said, "I have to get going."

Tancred was going to say, "Sure, we'll talk tomorrow." but instead, the words, "Leaving all your problems behind isn't smart."

Tancred froze. The weight was back and his mouth twitched. Now that he thought about it, his head has been softly pounding too.

Emma glared at Tancred. She didn't know he was like this. How could she fall for someone like this? "Are you calling me stupid?" she asked, her voice shivering with anger.

"Are you calling me a problem?" Tancred snapped back. In his head he was thinking _'No, no, no, no, no. What am I saying?'_

Emma spun around and walked away without a word.

Tancred followed her. "See? That's what you're doing right now. You're walking away."

Emma gave Tancred a backwards glance. She stopped. "What more do you have to say? I already see what you're trying to say." said Emma angrily, frustrated tears running down her cheeks.

"What am I trying to say then? What are you getting at?" Tancred scowled. The weight on his shoulders lifted again and he immediately regretted saying everything he had said to Emma.

"That you don't like me!" Emma cried, spinning around dangerously quick and turning around the corner, trying to stifle choked sobs.

Tancred stood there, dazed. Taking several seconds to figure out what's going on, the conversation finally dawned on him.

Emma had liked him. And now she thinks that he doesn't like her. Tancred started around the corner and looked down the street. Emma was gone and he was late for tea time at home.

Broken, but not yet brokenhearted, Tancred made his way home.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Elijah smirked. Right about now Tancred had spotted Emma. He watched them talk and then he set his mind to work.

He felt his conscience tap into Tancred's mind. He toyed with his brain a little before tapping into Emma's. He gave a little laugh when Emma walked away from Tancred. Tancred had just jogged to catch up and they were talking again.

When Emma quickly vanished behind the corner, he relaxed, knowing that his work today was done and he was free to come back to Bloor's. _Mr. Ezekiel's gonna be pleased. _He thought.

When he walked back to the school, Ezekiel greeted him at the doors. "How did it go?" he asked, succeeding to hide the eagerness in his tone.

"I think they're angry at each other." said Elijah.

"But are you completely sure?"

"They were shouting at each other and they walked away from each other. Tancred looks upset after that." he said.

Ezekiel stared at Elijah for a moment. Elijah tensed. Was something wrong perhaps?

"How would you like it if I gave you a few magic powers?" Ezekiel asked finally, heaving a sigh.

Elijah looked at him, his heart jumping. He didn't know if it was an exciting jump or a fearful jump. "Er..."

"Come here. I promise it's for your own good."

Elijah still didn't know if that was a good thing. "Why do I need 'magic powers'? I don't want anything to do with the Red King or anything like that. I don't like the power I have, what makes you think I'd want more and maybe dangerous powers?"

Ezekiel glared at Elijah. Elijah's shoulders relaxed and his eyes lost focus. They returned to normal after a few seconds. "So, what kind of powers are we talking about?" he asked eagerly, as if he had forgotten everything that had happened earlier.

* * *

The students that attended Bloor's bustled around the halls on Monday morning. Sarah was not discouraged by the fact it has been a week since her search has started and yet not answers. She had asked all the boys she knew that started with 'E'. Except-

"Elijah?"

Elijah looked up from his breakfast, his mouth open as he was just about to bite into his egg. "Yea?"

"What's your last name? I'm sorry but I never knew your full name." Sarah said quickly.

"Rowan, why?"

"Oh," Sarah tried to hide her disappointment but her voice let it all out.

"Why? Were you expecting something else?"

Sarah looked at Elijah for a second. "Yes, I was. Never mind though. It's not you."

"What's not me?"

"Nothing, you can go back to eating your egg." Sarah said, leaving the music department table.

* * *

Charlie walked down the corridor with books in arm. He rushed into the classroom and into his seat. In front of him were two girls talking rapidly to each other.

Charlie wasn't attentive to their chatter but he heard Emma and Tancred's name in it.

"I heard that too! They're so totally angry at each other now," the girl to Charlie's right said.

"I know. I heard that she likes him too and she just left. Isn't that just rude?" the other girl said.

"I know. He'd be better off with me." the girl on Charlie's right said snottily.

"As if. He's mine." the other girl hissed.

"Whatever. I'm just saying that she shouldn't have done that. He just wanted to talk and she just ignored him."

"And did you know that he likes her too?" Charlie said loudly, interrupting the two girls.

The one on his right scowled. "Who asked you Bone?"

"They both like each other." said Charlie firmly.

"So why did they have a row?"

"I don't know? I never knew they had one in the first place." Charlie snapped.

"Well if they liked each other, they sure don't now!" the other girl snickered.

Charlie sneered at the two girls, "He'll doesn't like you two and he never will, the likes of you..."

"Oh that's not true. Just you wait, he'll ask me out one day." said the girl on Charlie's left.

"No, me." said the other.

Charlie turned his head away as the two girls bickered. It took him a few seconds to find that the rest of the class was talking about the same thing. Emma and Tancred's row.

_What happened to them? _Charlie thought.

* * *

Tancred and Charlie were sitting outside against a tree. Mr. Weedon was 'tending' to the tall blades of grass in the distance and a group of children were tossing around a Frisbee. Others were talking about the rumor that was being spread around.

"It's horrible." said Tancred. "Everyone just asked me why I was mean to her. Some girls even asked me if I was over her and if I'd like to 'know' them better. It's sickening."

Charlie nodded. "I heard all over school. I can't believe what my ears were hearing either. What really happened?"

"Well, it was odd." said Tancred dully. "It's nothing I experienced. I barely noticed it. It's like someone tickling you just a little bit. Then it was gone. Then it came back. It's like it jumps back and forth. Emma looked like she had the same feeling."

Charlie felt numbed. "You don't think?"

"Of course I think so. I just don't want to believe it." said Tancred crossly.

"Maybe it's not him." said Charlie.

"How can it not be him? He's the only one who can do that." said Tancred.

"Probably not. You know that Ezekiel has some magic. And there are some other magical people around town. Maybe we haven't met them yet."

"You mean encounter."

"Well, that's not much of a difference."

Tancred looked at Charlie with doubt. "Are you sure?"

"I can't be certain. But he couldn't have done so."

Tancred scoffed. "But he can." Then his tone softened and his face almost smiled. "But...Emma liked me."

"Tancred, everyone knew that. We know you like her. We know she liked you. You just don't listen," said Charlie defiantly.

He groaned. "I think I'll go tell her I'm sorry."

"I think so too. And remember, she likes you still I bet. All you have to do is tell her that you like her."

Tancred sighed. "This is complicated." he said.

"Yea, everyone goes through it. It can hurt and it can be your best friend at the same time." Charlie murmured.

Tancred gave Charlie a look. "What? No, not love. I meant the stupid tree Bone. It's giving my back a splinter. I'll go find her now." He stood up and brushed his back and left Charlie by the tree.

* * *

Elijah peeked into the art room. He had to practice using his new powers. He wanted to see a few things first and the art room was empty now from what he heard.

Standing in the center of the paint splattered room, he breathed in and let out a long breath. He could feel the heat...

"Elijah?"

Elijah jumped and spun around. "Emma, what are you doing here?" he breathed. He remembered he had to act a little uncomfortable.

Emma stood to the side. "I come down here sometimes to finish a painting or a drawing. What are _you_ doing here? You're a music student, aren't you?"

"Er...I was just kind of curious and some of these paintings are beautiful." he said blankly.

Emma looked down at her feet. Elijah could tell that he had done his part. However, he was indeed curious about what had happened.

"Emma, what happened? I heard things and I wasn't sure if I believed them." Elijah said warily.

Emma shook her head. "I don't feel like talking about it. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

Elijah nodded. "I understand." He sighed. Emma peered out of the corners of her eyes and saw that he was looking away, grasping his right forearm.

"Does it hurt?" Emma heard herself ask.

Elijah looked up, puzzled. "Does _what_ hurt?"

"Your arm. Sorry, I just wanted to know." Emma apologized. "Did Manfred get you bad?"

Elijah seized this moment to ignite the plan. Now if only he could locate Tancred's mind.

"Manfred, he...he didn't do it." said Elijah slowly after a moment of silence. He had to find Tancred's mind quickly before the moment pass.

"He didn't? May I see?"

Elijah looked at Emma cautiously. She gave him a reassuring smile. Elijah pulled up his sleeve and disclosed a red faded burn on his arm.

He heard Emma gasp and she came closer. Shakily, she reached out and felt the burn. "What happened to you?" she whispered.

A sharp pain shot into Elijah's head. Not only did it feel painful, but of remorse and guilt. Not knowing why he was feeling this, now that Ezekiel had taken away his power and gave him new ones. Was this still the side effects? Weren't they supposed to be long gone?

"Elijah?"

Elijah snapped back to earth. He realized that he had wasted too much time and found Tancred's mind wandering near the steps that led down to the art room.

"It was my fault." he whispered. "I did something stupid. I paid the price. All of it..." Then he felt something like relief. He found himself a little confused and sorrowful. "I lost everything. My parents, my house, my childhood...I lost all of it and this is the only thing that reminds me of it. It's all I got left."

Emma didn't want to show tears but it was too late. They were brimming her eyes and she covered her mouth. "You lost everything..." she gulped.

Elijah pulled down his sleeve again and turned his back on her. "I don't' like to talk much about it." He gasped. The heavy feeling was back. He felt like something was prodding at his head.

He blinked hard. His eyes lost focus. He blinked again. His focus came back and he was facing Emma again.

She looked deep into his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Elijah wiped away a few tears with the back of his hand. He nodded reluctantly. "I'll be okay. I dealt with this for a long time now. Pretty much my whole life."

Emma held out her arms and embraced him.

Surprised that he didn't have to do anything and immediately sensing Tancred nearing the room, Elijah wrapped his arms around Emma and buried his face into her soft hair.

Emma couldn't help but notice that his shade of hair was slightly darker than hers. She took a shaky breath and thought about all the horrible things that could have happened in his childhood.

Tancred's footsteps were soft and Emma didn't notice them. Elijah listened as Tancred's footsteps stopped abruptly. Furious winds whipped around the room instantly as if they had been there for a while and Emma released Elijah and spun around.

"Tancred!" she cried as Tancred's cape vanished from the left.

Emma ran after him and Elijah just stood there, thinking. "This should be fun." he said softly, the door closing by itself.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

"She didn't," Lysander exclaimed.

Tancred nodded.

Lysander looked around the group. Charlie, Olivia, Billy, Gabriel, and Fidelio looked sullen. "But...why?"

"She likes him. Not me. She liked me but not anymore. I'm a complete utter failure." Tancred muttered.

"You aren't." said Gabriel.

Charlie glanced around. The classroom they were sitting in was empty of people except them. That's a good thing. Considering that people nowadays are diving to hear what's going on.

"Then what happened?" asked Billy.

Tancred sourly looked at the ground. "I left. The winds were too quick. The air was like a million whips just picking things up and flinging them around. I heard her call for me and I ran. She followed but I lost her."

There was a quiet thump near the door and everyone's head jerked up. Nothing...

Sighing, Olivia said, "Tancred, it can't be all that bad. I mean she'll fall for you again."

"What if she won't? What if she starts getting closer to him? Then they'd be like best friends and then, before you know it, they'll be dating."

Olivia raised her hand and smacked Tancred across the back. Tancred flinched and eased away from her. "What was _that_ for?" he asked angrily.

"She _will_ fall for you." Olivia said angrily.

Tancred snarled. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Let it be."

He got up from his desk and walked across the room to the door. He paused and then he turned his head around and said, "Don't even try to get her to change her mind. She won't anyway." And with that he slammed the door.

* * *

The following week was touchy for Tancred and everyone else. Tancred's prediction was right, much to everyone's dismay.

Emma has been closer to Elijah and had started spending more time with him each and everyday during breaks.

Everyone noticed that Tancred had been exceptionally calm and collected during the rest of the week. There were no violent winds or deafening thunder nor the terribly striking lightning.

Lysander had worried about Tancred but Tancred claimed that he was fine and over with Emma.

"I don't think he is. No matter how 'over' he says he is, I still think he's not over her." Lysander said darkly to Charlie as the two boys walked to the King's Room.

They turned a corner and veered right to a set of stairs. "What can _we_ do? We have no right to interfere with their personal stuff." said Charlie pointedly. "I mean 'love' itself is a hard subject. It's complicated, it toys with emotions, and it can create a bitter rivalry."

"But he's not himself. Is it wrong to help?" asked Lysander. "I can hear distant drum beats and it's getting on my nerves."

The two reached the King's Room and they talked no more, since Manfred was watching the hall closely.

Gabriel and Billy were sitting together, their books already opened. Emma was sitting next to Gabriel with a pen in hand. She was staring at her paper, lost in thought. Tancred was sitting next to her but he didn't look disturbed or loathing. He just flipped a few pages, mouthing words to himself. Elijah was next to Tancred, reading a book. The twins were staring at their paper, like Emma. Dagbert laid his feet on the table, writing on his hand. Dorcas sat next to him, concentrating on her paper.

Lysander sat next to Elijah and Charlie sat next to Lysander. Lysander glanced at Tancred for a moment and then he continued to take out his notebook and textbook.

After homework, Lysander and Charlie saw Tancred lingering around the table, tidying things up.

"Tancred, are you okay?" asked Charlie as Lysander and him watched Tancred zip up his backpack.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Why?" he asked, swinging the backpack around with his left arm onto his back. "If you're wondering why I'm not grieving it's because I've gotten over it. Just because I lost her doesn't mean that I have to mope around."

"So you're just going to give up?"

"She did. So am I. I'm still broken but I'm mending." said Tancred casually as he made his way to the door. Lysander and Charlie exchanged brief glances before they ran after him.

"Wait! You sure you're okay?" Lysander breathed.

Tancred smirked. "Of course I am. Do I look upset to you?"

He held out his arms to present his self. Charlie shook his head and Lysander stared. "Tanc, you're losing yourself."

Tancred huffed. "Whatever. I'll see you later Sander. See you tomorrow Charlie." Tancred walked away from the two, whistling an upbeat tune.

"There's something wrong with him." Lysander whispered to Charlie.

"Lysander, maybe he _is_ over Emma." Charlie said thoughtfully.

"He can't be. I know him longer than my own sisters. He's not like that Charlie. He's stubborn. He won't let her go that easily."

Charlie shrugged as they reached the dormitory hall. "I'll see you soon Charlie," said Lysander as he ascended the first set of stairs into the art boy's dorms.

Charlie gave a wave as Lysander disappeared from above. He hurried down the hall to catch up with Gabriel and Billy.

"Hey you guys," Charlie said as he caught up.

"Hey Charlie. Have you seen Tanc? He's acting like he doesn't mind." said Gabriel.

"Yeah, Sander and I just talked about it. Do you think he'll crack?" asked Charlie.

"I give him a few days." said Billy.

"I give him a week. He can stay that long I bet." said Gabriel.

"I say two weeks. He's stubborn but then again I don't know if he could keep it up." said Charlie.

Billy sighed and Gabriel shrugged. "We'll see Charlie. We'll see."


	18. Chapter Seventeen

It was Wednesday morning, a week after Tancred had accepted the fact that Emma had moved on. The good endowed had acknowledged the fact that Tancred has gone from laid back to ignorant, so Gabriel was right about Tancred cracking after a week.

"He grinds his teeth every time he _sees _him." said Lysander during break to Charlie and Gabriel. "Yesterday night I heard him mutter in his sleep about beating him to his game, whatever that means..."

All over school, the Tancred-Emma-Elijah love triangle was the number one favorite thing to gossip about.

Everywhere Charlie went, all he heard was, "And now Tancred's going delusional."

"I heard he wants to sock Elijah in the face every time he saw him." another person would hiss.

"I thought he was over that. Now he's brooding around school. He won't even talk!" another person would say.

"Which one of the boys do you want her to be with?" many would say.

"I prefer her to be with Tancred, at least he could protect her." some would say.

"Elijah, all the way. He's not moody and he's a funny guy." the others would say.

All the rumors and gossip going around made Charlie's head spin. If it won't stop soon, he'd go insane himself.

"Who do you support Bone?" a boy asked him when he was in the coat room.

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie, although he had a hunch that it was about the Tancred-Emma-Elijah love triangle.

"Which guy would you want with Tolly? I'm rooting for Torsson. The guy can stir up interesting storms." the boy smirked.

"It's all a game to you guys, isn't it?" Charlie said angrily. "It's not a game. You can't bet who's going to end up with who. You can't root for which person is going to win the girl. It's not right. It's too personal and rumors hurt. Don't any of you care about their feelings?" he shouted to everyone in particular.

Those who were in the coat room looked at him. He was slightly pleased when they shifted uncomfortably. Perhaps they would rethink about spreading things around.

Then a girl ran in the coat room excitedly. "Check out what's going on in the main hall!"

Everyone in the coat room bustled out eagerly, leaving Charlie following reluctantly behind them.

There was an unusual amount of students in the main hall. Charlie had to push his way through, wondering what in the world was going on. When he heard the thunder and saw the flashes of light around the corner where the main hall was, he thought miserably, _Oh no, Tancred finally lost it._

He made it to the very front where there was a surprisingly large clearing in the middle of the hall in front of the huge polished front doors and the grand staircase where it was littered with students watching.

There were lines of numerous students lined up against the rails and both ends of the hall was flooded with people. There was barely enough room to breath except the clearing, where Tancred was storming the area.

Elijah was on the floor, propped up on his elbow, his eyes wide. There was a burnt mark two feet away from him. Rain soaked the two boys and thunder clouds hovered near the ceiling. It was raining heavily on the two of them while it was merely sprinkling in the sea of faces.

"Tancred!" Charlie yelled as he felt his other friends pushing their way to him. But his yells were drowned out by the thunder.

"Tancred!" he heard Lysander bellow.

Tancred didn't look at them. He had his back turned on them. He was breathing heavily. His blonde hair wasn't stiff at all or in spikes. They laid flat and clung to his scalp and he had an evil look in his eyes.

Charlie caught a glance at Emma, who was pushing her way down the stairs. She skidded across the wet floor and onto her knees by Elijah's side.

"Tancred!" she shrieked. "Stop it!"

Tancred snapped his attention to her and scowled. "He started it!" he bellowed, pointing at Elijah who quickly got to his feet.

Lightning flickered dangerously in the clouds and the crowd murmured. Charlie, Lysander, and Gabriel stepped carefully into the storm and made their way to Tancred, careful not to slip on the wet marble floor.

A few teachers were shouting and trying to make their way to the storm boy themselves but couldn't because of their fear of Tancred's endowment. Instead they lingered at the side lines, shouting and threatening to give out detentions.

Red lightning with deadly blue tips striked the floor and everyone jumped at the sudden flash and heat.

"Red lightning?" Charlie gulped as he hesitated coming any closer to Tancred. The place where the red lightning striked was damaged beyond repair. There was a well sized hole in the ground and the smell of burnt debris reached their nostrils. "That was huge!"

"Only elves sprites have red lightning and they're only found in the thermosphere and mesosphere." Lysander gulped, hesitating as well. "I've known him for so long and never had I seen him produce one before, not even his own dad!"

Tancred shuddered for a while, feeling the surge in his veins. He felt like he could blow up a whole country, not that he would however.

"Tancred, please. What has gotten into you?" Emma cried.

Elijah stood behind her, looking fearful.

Tancred didn't answer. He gritted his teeth and lunged towards Elijah.

Lysander, Charlie, and Gabriel leaped and hung onto Tancred, pulling him back. "Control yourself." Charlie snapped.

"You sound like Dr. Bloor," Lysander muttered.

"Tancred, stop it." Gabriel grunted.

"But he started it," Tancred hissed dangerously.

"Started what?" asked Charlie, squinting at the clouds. It was raining harder than ever but no sprites or elves so far.

Wind started to blow and the three boys grasped Tancred's arms even harder. "Everything," he said through gritted teeth.

Before they could figure out what he could mean by that, stronger arms grabbed all four boys and forced them to stand up.

"Control yourself!" Dr. Bloor's voice commanded.

"Told you," Lysander muttered to Charlie, receiving a small shove in the head to silence him.

Three teachers that Charlie never saw before were holding the three boys and Dr. Bloor was wrangling Tancred into his grip.

Tancred pulled himself out of Dr. Bloor's grasp and made his way through the hall. Everyone in his way parted so that he could pass by, and they also tried not to get hit by his infamous lightning bolts.

Dr. Bloor sent a few teachers after him and then he faced Emma and Elijah.

"Tolly, get back to class. Rowan, follow me. And everyone else..." He turned to the rest of the school. It seemed like the whole academy was there watching. "GET BACK TO CLASS!"

They scattered off, creating a frenzy. Charlie saw that everyone wanted to take a good look at the burnt marks before heading back to class.

The teachers that held onto Lysander, Gabriel, and Charlie released them, since they were the ones who held Tancred back but they gave them each a warning.

"Warning for what? Trying to prevent a fight? What are they trying to teach us, let a fight occur and not even try to stop it?" Gabriel muttered angrily as the three headed down a hall. "That's stupid."

"I agree," said Charlie bitterly. "It's like they wanted to see Tancred beat up Elijah, or vice versa."

"Its just sick, this problem has to stop." said Lysander in an undertone.

"How? We can't just walk up to him and say, 'Hey Tancred, yeah, you're a problem to everyone and we need you to stop, okay?' That's not easy you know. He'd blow us up for saying that." Charlie mumbled.

"Then talk to Emma. She'll have to do something." said Gabriel.

"I don't know if she will now. I don't know if she holds grudges but if she does, then there's no way that she'll talk to him after he attacked Elijah." said Charlie.

"What did he mean when he said 'everything'?" Gabriel inquired.

"I think he meant everything bad that has happened these last past weeks." said Lysander.

"It's not even three weeks and already he's gone ballistic." Charlie said.

Lysander sighed and stopped in front of a classroom. Charlie and Gabriel paused and turned their heads.

"This is my class you guys. I'll see you later." Lysander said, entering the classroom.

Charlie and Gabriel continued down the hall. "You know what I just realized?" said Gabriel after a moment of silence.

"What?"

"Lysander's still wet."

Charlie and Gabriel smiled in what seemed like a long time. "We are too, remember? That Tancred can really stir up a storm." said Charlie. It reminded him of the boy who asked him before the event about who he was rooting for.

"It's all a game, isn't it?" Charlie echoed.

Gabriel looked at him. "What is?"

"The triangle. I see it now. It's not a real game, respectively, but it's like a competition. And Em's the prize." Charlie said blankly.

"Gee, I never thought of it that way." said Gabriel quietly. "Makes me wonder what else I don't know."

"I don't know. I'll see you later Gabe, I got French." said Charlie as he veered into another classroom.

Gabriel waved and Charlie disappeared into the room.

Gabriel wandered down the hall and into another classroom, bracing himself for another boring lecture in history.

Elijah, soaking wet and puddling inside the headmaster's office, waiting for Ezekiel to arrive.

Dr. Bloor didn't look cross. He looked, more or less, deep in thought.

The door opened and Manfred came in, rolling Ezekiel in the room. Ezekiel had a frown on his face.

Elijah shivered. There was a slight draft and the water chilled him. He wrapped his cape around himself and braced himself for a lecture.

Ezekiel wheeled himself to face Elijah and studied him carefully. "Tell me, what happened?"

"I was just walking down the main hall and then out of nowhere lightning just flashed and I jumped." Elijah said. "Everyone screamed and ran to the edges of the wall and Tancred, you should have seen him. He had this look in his eye that makes you want to shrink back."

"Interesting," said Ezekiel, though he didn't sound interested. "And then what?"

"Charlie, Gabriel, and Lysander rushed in and Emma came to me. Tancred, his storm was awful. I could barely see him. The rain blinded me. All I could see was Emma, some people watching, and I could sorta make out Charlie, Gabriel, and Lysander holding Tancred back. He was only a few feet away and I could barely see him. That's how bad the rain was." said Elijah.

Ezekiel scowled. "And you didn't fight back?"

Elijah looked at Ezekiel, startled. "I can't fight back! I'm not like that!"

Ezekiel's eyes flashed and Elijah's eyes lost focus and his arms fell to his side. Manfred watched, feeling both fear and admiration at the same time.

"You are now..." Ezekiel said in a low voice. "You are now."


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Olivia and Emma were sitting outside in the gardens during free period. It has gotten much cooler, now that it was mid autumn. The grass was straw, the few trees in the gardens were brilliant flames, and the sky was a misty gray.

"You're still a little mad at him, aren't you?" Olivia sighed.

Emma picked at the dying grass. "How can I forgive him for breaking my heart?" she said softly.

"You still like him, don't you?" Olivia asked, perking.

"Yes, I'll never let him out of my heart. But I just can't go back and let him hurt me again." Emma murmured.

"Emma, you don't see it, do you?" Olivia said. "Do you even know _why_ he tried to hit Elijah?"

Emma shook her head. "No," she said dully.

"He was_ jealous_." said Olivia excitedly.

Emma ceased her picking and glanced up at Olivia, her heart leaping after what seemed for a long time. "He was _jealous_?"

Olivia nodded eagerly. "Yes! He likes you Em. He'll do anything for you. He'll go to the end of the earth for you. He was jealous and he's not in a good mood because he thinks that you like Elijah more than him."

Emma cupped he hand and placed it over her mouth. "Oh my gosh..." she breathed. "He likes me? He _likes_ me...But..." Her face dropped. "Does he know I like him?"

"No, he thinks you've moved on." Olivia said gravely. She sighed. A small breeze picked up and Emma's golden hair fluttered, tickling her cheek.

"I have to go and straighten things out." she said softly, her cheeks growing pink.

"You really should. But before you do, you need to practice your apology."

Emma sighed. She picked at the grass again. "Tancred..." she whispered. "If you're listening, please tell me. Do you really like me?"

Olivia listened as Emma continued with her sincere and soft angelic voice.

"I finally understand now. I was so blind. I was foolish. I have to apologize. I'm so sorry for everything. I know that you're probably thinking that this flimsy apology compared to all the disappointing things that happened in the past is nothing."

Emma stopped talking and took a breath and buried her head in her hands. "That sounded so stupid." she muttered. "That will never work. I can't do it Liv. I just can't. I'll sound like a fool."

"Em, that wasn't stupid. It came from the heart and that's what matters most." said Olivia gently, patting Emma's arm. "You're all he cares about. It doesn't matter if you impress him, he just cares about you and you only. If he really likes you, or even loves you, it doesn't matter if you mess up. It won't make him like you less. It'll just make him like you more."

The hunting horn sounded and the two girls looked up. Emma nodded slowly and Olivia helped her up. "Olivia, you're the only friend that cares this greatly for me." Emma half whispered, half said. She gave Olivia a smile, her eyes watering. "And I'll do this for you. And for Tancred."

Olivia felt tears welling up in her won eyes and the two girls walked slowly, side by side, towards the academy in sheer silence.

* * *

Tancred snuck into the music kitchen. Cook had wanted to talk to him. So far, none of the cafeteria workers noticed him. He hid behind a cart and peeked through the rungs.

Three ladies were in the kitchen now. One of them was unpacking fresh fruit, another was stirring soup and another was cleaning up a work area.

He tip toed to the closet not so far away from where he was and quietly opened the door. He spotted a tiny knob at the back and he reached out to pull on it. The secret passageway was revealed and he crept into it, closing the secret door form behind.

He descended the steps and down into the narrow hall until he reached a secret room.

Blessed, Ezekiel's dog, was lying at the end of the hall. Tancred stepped over the dog and looked around.

"Cook?" he called.

Cook poked her face out from behind a corner and disappeared again. Clattering sounds followed that and she reappeared, wiping her hands on her apron hastily.

"Sorry for the mess love, but I was making Blessed here his lunch." Cook said, looking fondly over at the sleeping dog.

Tancred nodded and sat down on one of the couches. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Cook's kind face dropped a little. "Yes, I believe it's vital for you to know."

Tancred sighed. "I'm all ears." he said.

"It's about Elijah Rowan." she said, sitting down on the couch.

Tancred's shoulders drooped. "Oh,"

"Listen, you know his endowment, right?" Cook said hurriedly.

"Yeah, he's a mind controller." Tancred grumbled.

"And one of the last." Cook said.

Tancred looked up, puzzled. "One of the last?" he echoed.

"They don't last long, mind controllers." said Cook worriedly. "It's the most dangerous endowment there is so far."

"What do you mean?" asked Tancred, sitting up.

"The past mind controllers, they've gone crazy." Cook said carefully. "They couldn't stand it any longer. Most of them end up committing suicide."

Tancred's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Why?" he asked incredulously.

Cook looked away. "Mind controlling is the most dangerous, like I said. Not only can they control other people's minds, but they can control their own without knowing it."

Tancred felt a chill go down his spine. "So, you're saying that Elijah is one of the few mind controllers left."

"Yes, such a horrible endowment that is. They slip into the mercy of their endowment. Not even the few that mastered it can avoid it. They end up messing up their lives without intending to in their real state. They don't even know they're under their endowment's control. It's as if it has a mind of it's own." Cook whispered.

Tancred gulped. "He's unpredictable then. Are you saying that I should watch out?"

"I'm saying that he's vulnerable to his own power. He can become quite dangerous. The Bloor's know this and I have a nasty feeling that they have him under their control. I'm just saying, now that he may be at the mercy of his power, to not trust him.

"Oh he's just a sweet boy. I can tell that in his heart he means well. If it had not been for his endowment he would have a wonderful future and many loyal friends and a caring family." Cook said, her voice breaking off.

"His endowment is more of a burden than a gift." Tancred said softly. He stared at his clasped hands. "How many mind controllers do you think are still here?"

Cook shook her head. "Less than twenty I suppose."

"What's the average age they break?" Tancred choked.

"Around the age thirty. And if they're lucky, fourty."

"They don't have much now do they?" asked Tancred.

Cook patted Tancred's knee softly. "No, they don't. They rarely make it to an average person's age."

"Thanks for telling me Cook." Tancred murmured, his brain reeling. Was it that Elijah was in the state Cook was talking about? The day he started to be confident, was that the day he slipped into his mind? Was that what the major headaches were all about?

Tancred snuck back into the cafeteria. Maybe he could try to get Elijah to snap out of it. "This is all their fault." he muttered as he glanced over at Dr. Bloor who was eating his salad at the front table. "They're ruining his life." he mumbled.

* * *

Elijah hurried to the attics where Ezekiel and Manfred waited.

"Whoa!" he breathed. "This is wicked..." He glanced around the shadowy room.

"Focus!" Ezekiel snapped.

Elijah jumped and straightened his posture. "Sorry," he said quickly.

Ezekiel sighed. "Right then, come here."

Elijah stepped closer to Ezekiel and Manfred curiously. "So what's my mission?" he asked.

Ezekiel's eyes flashed red that even Manfred took a sharp intake of air. Elijah's eyes grew milky and his muscles relaxed.

Ezekiel looked at Manfred. "He's fighting." he growled.

"He's...what?"

"His real self is fighting my control." Ezekiel scowled. "He still has that conscience in him. He still has doubts about my commands. He's even think that his endowment is gone even though he constantly uses it."

"Is that even possible?" Manfred mused.

"It's possible. His mind is scattered. His real self is doing it. We have to put him into a trance so that we can have him under full and total control."

Manfred glanced into Elijah's milk white pupils. "A trance so that his real self can't break through." Manfred mumbled.

"He's a strong boy Manfred. He's a fighter. He can fight through even some of the most powerful spells and hexes. He's perhaps one of those who can survive longer than the others."

Manfred exhaled. "So which one are you trying to perform?"

"The most powerful one." Ezekiel sneered.

Manfred's heart skipped a beat. "Great-grandpa, it can be deadly. There's only twenty percent that he would survive it."

"He's a fighter," Ezekiel echoed. "I know he can make it."

"It takes away his soul. His inner self. Are you saying that you're trying to kill off his real self and replace it with a more cunning and evil soul?"

"That's right." Ezekiel chuckled. "No real soul has ever returned after their body has been through this curse."

Manfred glanced at Elijah. "Alright then. Go for it if you have so much hope in him."

Ezekiel raised his hands in front of Elijah's face. He waved them back and forth and muttered a few words in a completely different accent.

Elijah's eyes slowly turned navy blue. The color seemed to swirl in to the milky white and they continued to 'stir'.

"Manfred, pass me the first jar." said Ezekiel quietly.

Manfred bent down and picked up the jar on his far left. He gave it to Ezekiel and he twisted the lid open and threw in a pinch of the red powder onto Elijah's eyes.

They seemed to dissolve into his eyes and made a small, barely audible hiss. Manfred shuddered. It was freaky looking.

Ezekiel muttered a few words and Elijah's eyes flashed suddenly. Manfred watched as the navy blue slowly turned bright green. Elijah fell to the ground as if he was suddenly a rag doll. Manfred made a move to bend over to see if he was okay but Ezekiel hissed, "Leave him."

Manfred stopped and returned to his regular position. Now he may not be the kind of person who cares much about people, but for some reason, he felt that Elijah's welfare was part of his responsibility. Shaking the thought that his heart was softening, he watched as Elijah's eyes flashed blood red.

Ezekiel muttered a few more words and gasped, clutching his heart and made a choking sound.

"Great-grandpa, are you okay?" asked Manfred urgently, putting a hand on Ezekiel's shoulder.

"I'm fine," he muttered, brushing Manfred's hand away. "It's done."

The two watched as Elijah's red eyes returned to normal. They held their breath, wondering if he had survived the curse. They let out a sigh or relief when Elijah gasped out suddenly, his lungs fought for breath.

He propped himself up on his elbow and panted, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "What the freak!" he breathed angrily. "What was _that_ about?"

"You can go now." said Ezekiel, worn out but clearly satisfied. Manfred was grinning widely. He couldn't stop the sensation.

"But I didn't even get my mission." Elijah protested.

Ezekiel perked. "Yes, of course. Come here, I'll lay out the foundation. First, I need you to take the girl and recreate her as a monster. Then I need you to make her attack. Leave none of them flawless. No mercy, make it as clean as possible."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Emma wandered through the halls, looking for Tancred. Her fellow classmates glanced at her as she passed. She hated the rumors that were being passed around. She sighed as she heard a few people murmuring whether or not she was looking for one of the boys or not.

She finally spotted Tancred reading the notice board. She made her way over to him, her heart barely being able to contain itself from jumping.

She was almost there, a few more strides...

"Emma!"

Emma was interrupted when Elijah stepped in front of her. She peeked behind his shoulder and saw that Tancred was walking away with Lysander.

She gave a small sigh in her head, not knowing if it was of ease or frustration. Oh well, she'll have her chance.

"Yes?" she said to Elijah, who looked excited.

"Em, you gotta check this out! It's superb!"

"What is it?" Emma asked, wondering what in the world could be worth getting so excited about.

"Come here, I have to show you!" Elijah said eagerly, grabbing her wrist.

The next second, Emma was being whisked away, running along side Elijah down the hall.

People watched as they ran, either nodding and smiling or frowning and shaking their heads. They reached an empty room. The room had a high ceiling and it was quite spacious. There wasn't anything in it; no furniture, no pictures or paintings, no nothing.

Emma glanced around, her heart pounding and her face red from the running. "What is it?" she asked.

The door closed suddenly and made her jump. She spun around. Before she could see what was going on, her eyes lost focus and her mind cleared.

Elijah smirked. Ezekiel, Manfred, and Dr. Bloor came out from behind a door on the other side of the empty room. "Well, let's see what you've got." Dr. Bloor said.

Elijah's eyes flashed blue and Emma let out an ear shattering scream. She fell to her knees but her eyes were still blurred. She held her arms over her bowed head. Feathers started to sprout out of her back. Long sleek ivory wings slowly and painfully shot out from the clusters of feathers. They were about three times the size of Emma herself. Everyone but Elijah and Emma took a breath of admiration at the beauty of them.

Emma's trimmed nails grew longer and became sharp talons. Her school clothes melted into a clingy white torn dress, fluttering in the unknown source of wind. Her blonde hair became dirty blonde and messily elegant, growing to her waist. Her eyes opened and her blue eyes became red. Her teeth grew into fangs.

She was a monster, but a beautiful and breath taking monster. She was horrifyingly gorgeous.

She stood up and gave her new wings a few flaps before kneeling down before Elijah. "Master," she said smoothly. Her voice was still angelic, but in a daunting way.

"Attack your friends, leave none of them unscathed. No mercy, no giving up. And especially no softening." Elijah snapped.

Emma bowed her head gracefully. She kicked off with her knee and her wings spread out wide, creating a rather large shadow in the room. No longer was she human. She was only half; half human. The other half was a bird. A deadly bird.

She zoomed up to the very top of the room and swooped down and out the door.

The wind caused by her wings made everyone duck down as the strong breeze nearly knocked them down.

Emma twisted in mid air and then around corners into the main hall. Students glanced up and turned around as they saw a shadow. Screams and yells erupted the main hall and they dived out of Emma's way.

Billy and Fidelio, who were in the hall at that time watched fearfully as Emma let out a deafening screech. "Billy, go get the others. I'll try to get her to stop." Fidelio ordered. He ran into the midst of the commotion as Billy fled to the staircases.

Billy made it to the next floor but by then Emma had already destroyed the other side of the stairs with another chunk of marble. He immediately laid his eyes on Olivia, Charlie, and Gabriel on one side and Tancred and Lysander on the other.

He went to the closet, which was Olivia, Charlie, and Gabriel.

"Billy!" Charlie yelled as the three of them ran to meet with Billy. "What happened?"

Billy gasped, "It's Emma! Something's wrong with her!"

"What?" Olivia's head shot up as she watched the monstrous Emma swoop around the hall, sapphire flames flickering harmlessly in both of her hands.

"I don't know how but something awful just happened to her." Billy cried. "Fidelio's down there trying to stop her! He might get hurt!"

Charlie bounded down the steps, closely followed by Gabriel. Olivia couldn't move. Billy reluctantly left her. He weaved in and out of people who tried to see what was going on.

"Tancred! Lysander!" Billy shouted.

Two strong hands grabbed onto Billy's arms. He looked up and saw Lysander's kind face. "What's wrong?" he asked. "And who's _that_?"

"You don't recognize her?" Billy yelped.

"We're supposed to recognize her?" Lysander echoed, looking at Emma.

"It's _Em_!" Tancred yelled, dumbstrucked.

"_Emma_?" Lysander inquired in terror. "That's Em? It can't be!"

"Something's wrong with her!" said Billy as Lysander and Tancred grabbed his wrists and dragged him down the good stairs and down into the main hall.

"Emma!" Charlie was yelling, waving his arms around.

"Emma!" Olivia was crying. "_Em_!"

Emma laughed. She landed swiftly on her bare feet. She walked over to her friends and said, "It's nice to see you."

"Em, what happened to you?" Gabriel asked, awed.

"Don't you like it? I like it." Emma said innocently.

"Em, you're destroying Bloor's!" Charlie said pointedly. Then he tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well actually, that's not really a bad thing but how you're doing it is bad. Let the construction workers tear it down, when there aren't people in it!"

Emma scowled and seized Billy and flew upwards.

Billy screamed, kicking uselessly. "Help!" he screamed.

"Billy!" Olivia and Lysander yelled.

Emma laughed again and she said in a cooing voice, "Do you want me to put you down Billy?"

Billy nodded fearfully.

"As you wish," Emma said happily, releasing the thunderstruck Billy.

Billy uttered a scream as his body plummeted to the floor, his blue cape wrapping around his small body.

"Billy!" Charlie yelled.

Lysander and Tancred jumped in and caught the child in their arms. They laid him down and knelt beside him as the others crowded around him. The other students retreated to the sides as teachers watch helplessly. De ja vu.

Billy was crying, his small body shaking with stiffled cries.

Tancred looked up at Emma. "What have you done with the real Emma?" he asked angrily.

Emma smiled sweetly at Tancred and he couldn't help but notice that this Emma was kinda cute too. "This _is_ the real me Tancred." she cooed.

Before anyone could react to her answer, she distinguished the sapphire flames in her hands and swooped down and grabbed Tancred up into the air.

Tancred yelled in surprise. He tried to squirm out of her grip but thought the best of it. He didn't want to end up like Billy, being dropped and all.

"I know that he always wanted to be held by Em but I don't think that's what he had in mind." Lysander breathed as they stood up, watching Emma and Tancred in the air.

"What can we do?" Olivia asked, panic edging into her voice.

Emma snapped her attention to the front doors. The locks snapped open and the doors flung open, letting in the cool autumn breeze. She took one mischievous glance at the group and zoomed out the door.

Everyone stayed where they were, frozen in shock and disbelief. Did that really happen? It was eerily silent. The students glanced at the endowed expectantly.

"We have to go after them," Olivia breathed, running out thorough the doors.

"Yippee, just what I wanted. Running in public in a green cape while chasing a monster." Lysander muttered under his breath as he took off after Olivia, followed closely behind by Gabriel, Fidelio, Charlie, and Billy.

"They're heading to the forest!" Gabriel yelled.

Charlie saw the ivory wings soaring across the fiery tops of trees over the forest. He could see the newly transformed Emma holding Tancred as he kicked and yelled.  
"Let me go!" Tancred shouted at Emma. Then he thought otherwise, glancing down. "On second thought, never mind..." he added weakly.

Emma scowled at him.

"Em, what happened to you?" Tancred asked, dangling his feet.

"Why would you want to know?" Emma asked suspiciously.

Tancred frowned. Something happened to her alright.

Emma dropped Tancred into the forest. He screamed briefly, only to be silenced when he broke his fall by landing in the trees. Small branches cracked when he came down and he slid past the bigger ones and landed roughly on the forest floor.

Groaning, he staggered up, brushing leaves and bugs off his hair and shoulders. "Tancred!" he heard Lysander yell as his friends neared.

"Sander!" Tancred called back.

He watched as Lysander and the others running towards him. They were only a few trees away when a streak of white zoomed between them and Tancred. The force of the streak when it crashed into the earth was enough to send Tancred backwards. He heard everyone else shriek and fall backwards too.

Dirt and leaves flew up into the air and Tancred coughed. He squinted up. Emma was hovering around them, sapphire flames licking her hand again. She landed a few yards away from Tancred and swiped the air, sending the blue flames in his directions.

He curled up and felt the heat pass him. The flames were sharp and he cried out in pain. He got up and jumped out of the way as he saw instantly another wave of fire.

He watched as the blue fire traveled away and disappear. He tore off his cape for it could catch on fire or snag onto a branch. There were a few burn marks on his uniform and not to mention a couple of tiny holes, singed with black.

"Tanc, watch out!" he heard Gabriel bellow.

Tancred peeked around the tree and let out a quick, "Whoa!" and ducked. He heard a sickening crunch and dove out of the way of the falling tree. It landed with a large thump, Tancred being only a few feet away.

He felt strong arms pulling him up. He blinked and Lysander's face was peering at his anxiously. "Tanc, get up." he said.

"Emma, stop it! Listen to me, stop it!" Olivia cried desperately.

"That's not Emma Liv," Charlie said, shuffling his feet nervously. "Not anymore. She's an enemy."


	21. Chapter Twenty

Emma walked forward towards them. They took a few steps back. She smirked. She walked forward a few more paces before she blew. The wind from her mouth came out strong and knocked everyone down.

While they were down, she swiped the air again. The fire shot out of her hand and brushed them. Olivia and Fidelio coughed violently and Lysander shielded Billy from the heat.

"We have to fight her back," Charlie choked, coughing into his sleeve.

"But it's Emma," Tancred protested.

Emma laughed. "You still don't see it, do you?"

Tancred gritted his teeth.

Out of nowhere, a long silver staff appeared in Emma's hand. She twirled it around and slammed the butt of it down into the earth. It made a large crack. The crack zig zagged its way to the group, widening every inch it went. "Get out of the way!" Tancred yelled as he dove.

Charlie wrapped his arms around Olivia's waist and threw them out of harm's way. Lysander grabbed Billy and jumped off. Gabriel and Fidelio staggered back. Everyone was on their feet, watching Emma warily. She just smiled at them sweetly. She gave them a small wave.

Confused, they glanced hastily around. The next second Charlie was up in the air. He had been shot up by the earth itself. "Charlie!" Olivia yelled.

Charlie whirled back down to earth. His arms and legs flailed around uselessly as he tried to regain his balance. He reached out and grabbed onto a tree branch and successfully slowed his fall and received a tree burn.

He dropped down with a grunt and wiped his red hands on his pants. "I'm fine," he said as Olivia made her way to him.

"That's great she could send any one of us flying in the air." Gabriel muttered.

"Now what?" Billy asked in a small voice.

"We run," said Fidelio.

Turning back, they fled deeper into the forest.

Emma kicked off the ground, her wings flapping silently as she flew. Tracking them down was easy. She took the water out of the air. The water weaved and danced around as she summoned a huge amount. Freezing it, she hurled the giant ice ball to them.

Fidelio glanced up and screamed, "Watch out!"

He stopped and slid behind the closest tree. The ball of ice exploded as it touched the ground, projecting shards of razor sharp ice in every direction.

Fidelio couldn't explain what was going on in his heart. He wanted to shout, "_No_!" but his mouth wouldn't allow him to. The dirt landed back on the ground, the ice was no longer in the air, but the icy mist lingered.

As the mist cleared, he ran out from the tree and slid the next couple of feet to the closest body. The grass was slick enough to allow him to slide.

"Billy, Billy!" he shouted, shaking the albino's shoulders. Billy's face was scarred, but not enough to make it serious. His blue cape was torn; it had a wide gap in the lower right. His glasses was slightly cracked but his arm was badly scratched. The blood soaked the grass and Billy's sleeve. There were a few pieces of melting ice in his skin, but they quickly melted off.

"Billy!"

Fidelio heard two groans from above. He looked up and was relieved to see Olivia and Gabriel themselves up.

Olivia's face was unscathed. Her uniform was muddy. She had a huge shard of ice sticking out of her back, right through her cape.

She took a sharp breath and slowly sat down. "Get it off me," she said, biting her lips.

Gabriel reached over, trying to ignore the bloody wound on his head, and tugged at the shard.

Olivia gasped. "Take it out quickly," she ordered. "But don't yank it."

Fidelio looked back down at Billy, who was starting to stir. "Billy!" Fidelio yelled. He shouted in surprise as there was a loud and heavy thud behind him.

Emma had landed, yellow-gold streaks in the air as she landed. They disappeared quickly and reappeared on the ground, racing towards Fidelio. Before he could react or even blink, the streaks sent a hot and painful electrical charge up his legs.

His reflexes made him kick but every time he moved his legs, an even more sharper pain made him stop.

He closed his eyes, his thoughts went to death. Would he die?

The pain finally stopped and his legs were numb. They didn't feel anything anymore, as if he didn't have legs at all. Was he dead yet?

He opened his eyes and saw one of Lysander's ancestors standing right in the path of the streak. The spirit grasped the streak and hurtled it back to Emma. Emma performed an exceptionally well spin kick, kicking the streak back to the ancestor.

While Lysander's other ancestors joined the one battling Emma, Lysander crawled his way to Fidelio and Billy. "Are you alright?" he asked huskily.

"Fine," Fidelio said weakly. "Legs a bit, er, numb."

"Can you move them?"

Fidelio glanced at his legs. They did nothing. "No, they're immobilized." he said wistfully.

"What about Billy?"

Billy woke at the sound of his name. He groaned, pushing himself up. "What's going on?" he murmured, slurring his words.

"He looks fine. What about the others?" said Fidelio.

The three heard Olivia's shriek and automatically looked up. A streak was being shot towards them but one of Lysander's ancestor blocked it at the very last minute with his shield, causing the streak to explode in a million sparks.

Drum beats were getting louder and Lysander held his head. "We gotta get to a safe place," he mumbled.

"Where?" Billy asked.

Olivia and Gabriel crawled over to them. "The ruins," said Gabriel. "It's a total labyrinth down there. She'll never find us."

"Unless if she could make duplicates of herself, then we'll be safe." muttered Lysander.

"We gotta wake the others," said Olivia shakily. "Before Emma gets past your ancestors Lysander,"

"I'll carry Fidelio, Billy, can you walk? Good, Gabe, go wake Tancred. Liv, go wake Charlie." Lysander stood up and scooped up Fidelio.

"I shouldn't be here," said Fidelio sadly. "I'm not endowed."

"She'd go after you whether or not you're endowed." said Lysander firmly. "By yourself, you wouldn't make it. As crazy as it seems, you're safer with us."

Fidelio shook his head but he said nothing.

Tancred had a scratch on his forehead and a bloody ear but he was capable of walking and running. Charlie had a few good size shards in his ribs. They bled but it wasn't too serious, luckily for him.

"To the ruins," said Olivia, tossing a few looks at Emma.

Emma was standing her ground very well, however, she looked aggravated, frustrated that she couldn't get past Lysander's ancestors.

Tancred took the lead, followed by Gabriel and Billy, Olivia, and Lysander and Fidelio. They reached the ruins and rested there for a few minutes.

"How badly are we?" asked Charlie, panting.

"I'm real bad," said Fidelio. "I can't even walk! Much less stand."

"This isn't good, is it?" said Gabriel. "We better get in. We have no idea where Em is."

"It's not Emma." said Tancred dully, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"What?"

"That's not Emma. She will never do that. Something bad had taken over her. Emma's not in there. We have to attack her like she's our worst enemy. We have to defend ourselves like we don't trust her at all, like we never knew her."

Everyone was silent, other than the heavy breathing. "Alright, let's go." said Olivia. "The sooner the better."

They ventured into the ruins, careful not to stray away from each other. Charlie could smell the distinct smell of mildew and that old funky stench.

"It's so moist in here," Tancred mumbled.

"Could you do something about it?" asked Fidelio.

"Dunno,"

"What if she caved the whole place in? Would we even make it?" asked Olivia suddenly, hesitating.

Everyone glanced back at her, stopping in their tracks and looking nervously around. "Don't give her any ideas Liv," said Lysander in a low tone.

"Right...sorry." she whispered.

They moved on down the dim hall, careful not to make much noise or disturb the ancient walls.

Every once in a while, when a slight sudden sound was heard from above, behind, or ahead, they'd stop and hold their breaths.

Charlie, as he and the rest ventured further into the darkening ruin, focused randomly on scrapes and bruises on his arms and legs. A gash was pestering him; the one on his left palm. He prodded the wound and suddenly Olivia's hand came slapping down on his right wrist.

"Don't touch it, you're going to infect it," she hissed.

Charlie scoffed. "As if it hasn't already, after lying around in the dirt."

"Shut up," Tancred snapped at them from behind.

"Why is this always happening to us?" Billy mumbled under his breath.

No one answered. _Because we're freaks. _Charlie thought miserably.

_No, we're not. _Another voice said firmly.

Charlie sighed. "No idea," he said for everyone to Billy, even though Billy probably knew better.

They rounded a corner and took the left staircase, leading up.

"Be careful around here." Lysander warned carefully.

"Yeah, we don't want anyone falling through the floors." Gabriel said quietly.

The stairs led to a grand and vast room, a few open holes in the roof, wrapped from the outside to the inside with ivy and vines. Sunlight shone into the room and caused everyone to squint.

"What _is_ this place?" Fidelio murmured, his eyes scanning the walls. His voice echoed merely.

"I've never been here." said Olivia. "In the games I always searched in the downstairs area."

"I've been upstairs a lot and I never found this room." said Billy.

"Hey, look at that." Charlie whispered, jogging to the other side where a torn and weather tapestry hung.

"Whoa, that's still there? This must be a _million_ years old." Tancred whispered, joining Charlie.

Charlie reached out and felt the loose threads that stuck out at the edges. The tapestry was blue and silver, with smudges around it. It showed a powerful silver bird with its wings spread. In its talons was a spear with ancient symbols on them. In its beak was...

_A golden rose._

Below the bird was a motto in a completely different language: _Vos pugna pro diligo_

"What language is that?" Lysander asked.

No one spoke up. It was a mystery.

They jumped when the ceiling behind them caved and a strong wind overlapped them. The tapestry fluttered and dropped to the floor.

They tossed a glance behind and their hearts froze. Emma had found them. With her staff raised and her eyes ablaze, she gave a brief war cry and flung the staff in their direction.

Charlie could see, like in slow motion, that when the staff spun, spikes emerged from the surface of the rounded stick.

His instincts told him to duck, his reflexes, however, made him want to slide in front of Olivia.

Confused on which to follow, and confused on what the difference between an instinct and a reflex (though if you sit and think about it it's not really that hard to figure out), he stayed where he was, throwing out his right arm in front of Olivia and also squatting his legs for a duck.

His instincts was more accurate than his reflexes. Olivia had ducked, leaving his arm hanging above her head. Charlie was grateful that he ducked because the spinning staff of spikes whooshed over their heads and slammed into the stone wall, knocking down many gritty bricks.

The dust aroused slightly. Charlie's heart raced. His head felt the rush of the blood. The feeling of losing someone kept his insides in a cage. As long as she was out there, no one was safe.

Someone was prodding his toe. He shifted his feet but then a hand grabbed it.

"Don't move," a voice hissed, barely audible to Charlie, who's head was still spinning.

How he managed to keep from yelling out in pain after the next couple of minutes he could not recall. After the hiss, he held in his gasps as sharp pointed spikes penetrated his skin. Drops of blood inched out onto the surface of his skin and drizzled down his arms and face.

He bit his lips and yanked the spikes out. He knew some of his friends were doing the same as well.

Not until he saw that the dust had dropped, some people were missing. Emma was gone, so that was a relief. Only, he didn't know where Fidelio, Tancred, and Gabriel went.

"Where'd they go?" Olivia whispered, her weary eyes glanced around suspiciously.

"You don't think she took them, did she?" Billy muttered.

"Billy, I think you should go back to the academy. It's safer there," Lysander said, brushing off dirt from his pants.

"I don't want to go by myself," he said in a small voice.

Charlie felt a small push from behind. He jumped but his face broke out into a relieved grin. "The Flames!" he exclaimed. "Haven't seen you guys since last week."

Aries pawed at Charlie for a moment. Leo and Sagittarius paced around Billy, who was listening attentively to their words.

"They say they'll watch after me." he breathed. "They can't do much, since they say that something powerful and almost impossible to break has something to do with Emma."

"As long as you get to Bloor's safely." said Olivia firmly. "Oh you three never let me down."

Aries left Charlie and joined the other two. Billy reluctantly followed them, Sagittarius leading the way, Leo right by Billy's side and Aries behind Billy.

"Be careful," Charlie mouthed to Billy, who pushed his glasses back into place as they loosely sat on the bridge of his nose.

"Where could the others be?" Olivia sighed, examining one of the spikes that hit her. She gasped as they melted in her hands. She shook the hot metal off of her hand and pinched her fingertips, hoping to numb the pain.

The three looked themselves over and are relieved to find that none of them were hurt badly. Yes, it still hurt but it was nothing compared to what they had gone through in the past, even though they would most likely agree this would be their most horrible encounter.

Lysander's head jerked up as if her heard something.

"Outside," he hissed, looking over the treetops from the hole in the wall that Emma had made.

A couple of bricks fell as Olivia and Charlie knelt beside Lysander, trying to get a better look.

Bright yellow, red, green, blue, and white flashes were to be seen in the forest, jumping from one place to another place a few trees or more over in any which direction.

Charlie saw, distantly, dark figures running and ducking behind trees and around them, holding each other tightly and fighting back with what they could do. From what Charlie was aware of, only Tancred was capable of attacking.

"How'd they get down there so quickly?"

Olivia's voice brought Charlie back to reality.

"Dunno, but it doesn't matter," Lysander said, wiping sweat from his face. The three could hear the familiar beating of the drums. "All that matters is that we have to protect our friends."

Charlie and Olivia nodded. Lysander leaned forward and jumped out through the hole. Charlie gaped as Olivia shrieked.

"That maniac!" she said, her voice telling Charlie that she thought that it was one of the most craziest thing.

"Not really, makes sense." said Charlie. "Two stories isn't all that bad Liv." That was the last thing he said to her before he kicked off with his foot and dove towards the ground.

Luckily, he landed roughly in the bushes below. He scrambled out of them, in time for Olivia to be caught by them.

"You okay?" he hissed, keeping his profile low.

"I'm fine," said Olivia, smiling slightly. "That was actually kinda fun.

"Don't even think about it," Charlie muttered grimly at her as he noticed that her eyes traveled to the third and fourth floor areas of the ruins.

Olivia scoffed. "I wasn't."

Their discussion was interrupted by a combustion.

The smell of burning made them run towards the fight.

Emma had her staff again, in hand as Tancred was blocking each devastating blow with a sturdy looking tree branch.

Each time Emma's staff knocked against the branch, Tancred was forced to back away.

"I could use some help over here!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

He had received his wish.

Chanting rang in their ears as spears were being raised and blocks were being performed.

Tancred stumbled back and leaned against a tree. His palms were red and sweaty and he groaned. "Never knew Em had so much muscle in her."

"This isn't good," said Fidelio, holding his legs.

"Still can't walk?" Olivia asked.

Fidelio shook his head.

"We have to get those who can't fight back to the school." said Gabriel.

"But that would only leave Tanc and Sander. We can't leave them alone fighting for their lives." Charlie said angrily.

"But we can't afford to lose friends either." said Fidelio.

"But there's a better chance of these two getting beat up, no offense guys but come on." Charlie added.

"Offense taken," Tancred joked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Great time to be joking around," she panted.

Lysander held his head for a while. "They aren't going to last long anymore, and she looks like she's winning. We have to move, now."

"Where?" everyone chorused, exasperated.

"Where else?"

"What, the city? Yeah, let the public get a taste of what we endowed have to put up with. Terrify the pedestrians, blow up a bunch of buildings that will cost fortunes to fix. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's better than the forest where nothing will be hit but trees and no one else has to get wrapped up in this mess." Olivia said tonelessly.

"Yeah, and risk the Red King's life." said Tancred pointedly.

Olivia frowned, thinking. "So, risk the city or risk the Red King."

They threw hurried glances back at Emma. The Ancestors were struggling, Emma was advancing. They were only a few yards away, all huddled around a tree.

"The Red King is only one tree near the school." said Charlie. "If we go further into the forest then it should be safer."

They agreed.

But they didn't see it happening.

The next thing that everyone knew was a great burst of heat and a blinding storm of dirt and red.

Charlie felt the hard floor. The impact knocked the air out of him. He glanced up and saw Lysander, Olivia, and Gabriel running as fast as they could in the other direction. Dazed, he struggled to get up on his feet.

Tancred helped him up, clutching his arm, where the sleeve was soaked red.

"What happened?" Charlie managed to sputter.

"No time, get out of here, run the opposite way. Em can't chase us if we're separated." Tancred growled.

As soon as Charlie was up, Tancred heaved Fidelio up.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked as he glanced back. "Run!"

The two of them dashed from the tree, a black burn on its side. Running on a flat surface was easy, but running up and down, jumping and sliding, it made it difficult, and even more difficult for Tancred.

They arrived at a lake that neither of them knew was there. The lake sat placid, the faded sunbeams reflected on the glassy water.

Tancred rested Fidelio on the shore, panting heavily. "Are you okay?" he asked Fidelio.

"I'm good." said Fidelio.

"Is she going to catch us or are we safe?" asked Charlie wading into the lake for refreshment.

Tancred was still panting, watching the trees and bushes. He shook his head and flinched. "Probably not." he said.

He sat down and tore off his sleeve. Charlie waded out of the water and plopped down next to Tancred and Fidelio. "What happened to your arm?" he asked.

Tancred gazed at it as if he was in a trance. "That one explosion." he said blankly.

"What hit you? I mean it was just an explosion out of thin air. It couldn't have thrown up some kind of scarp metal. Only force." said Fidelio.

"I don't know."

The three boys looked away from each other, their stomachs falling into a pit. A crunching sound from behind made them look around, alarmed.

"Tancred! Charlie! Fidelio!" a voice cried happily.

Tancred's expression brightened. "Sander!" he choked.

Lysander walked out from the trees, closely followed by Olivia and Gabriel.

"How'd you find us?" Charlie asked.

"We followed the Queen." said Gabriel.

"She's here? Where is she? We need help, we gotta get Emma out of this." Fidelio piped up, looking around.

"She vanished after she reached that tree," said Lysander, pointing back at the huge crooked tree.

They spent the next few minutes resting and planning. "How can we stop her? How did she become like this?" Charlie said.

"You know, after all of that time, we never had the time to think." said Olivia.

"Yeah, but now that we;re thinking, I think I know who did this." said Tancred darkly.

"Who?" everyone asked immediately.

"Elijah," he growled.

"How can he do _this_?" Gabriel asked.

"He mind controls. Is it possible that he can make you think that you're some kind of creature and your body actually makes it happen?" Tancred pondered.

"I'm not sure but whatever he may be doing it's dangerous." said Lysander.

"And how do we stop her then?"

It took a few seconds for Olivia to think up of something. "Maybe, if Tanc's right about Elijah mind controlling Emma, then maybe we can scare his mind out."

"_What_?"

Olivia gave Tancred a look. "Listen, if Elijah's mind did it, then do something that is related to what he fears the most, then maybe his mind will withdraw."

"That's crazy," said Tancred.

"Yes, but it's worth a try." said Olivia firmly.

"So, what does that mean?" asked Fidelio.

Lysander frowned. "Tancred,"

Tancred glance up at Lysander. "What?"

"You have to strike Emma down."


	22. Chapter Twenty One

All of the sudden, Tancred's heart broke into thousands of tiny little pieces. He was struck cold. Never in his life would he thought he would fear those words, and never had he imagined hearing that from his best friend, who knew everything about him (with a few exceptions).

Striking down Emma, that would be difficult to do. No, not difficult, _impossible_. Tancred knew his lightning was enough to actually kill someone, not that he would want to do so, not even to Manfred although there were some close calls.

"I won't."

Lysander sadly looked into his best friends' eyes. "Tancred, unless if you find another way to stop here, that's the only thing we can use, your lightning and storm powers."  
His hand came out and rested on Tancred's shoulder. Tancred could barely feel it; it was too numb. His whole body grew numb. A slight breeze wrapped around him. His biggest fear (besides spiders) was about to become reality.

Unless if he can find out a way to stop her.

"You don't have to really shoot her." said Olivia, a little hoarse. Perhaps she couldn't believe that she was listening to her closest friends planning to attack her best friend. "Just take out her wings or something. Bluff, show a little lighting to scare her. Anything but to hurt her."

Everyone looked from Lysander to Olivia to Tancred. You could feel the tension from a mile away. Up close, it was horrible.

Tancred didn't say anything. He stared at his hand, his face paling.

"What are you going to do?" asked Charlie softly.

Tancred shook his head. "I don't know." he whispered, clearly confused.

Everyone stayed silent for a moment. No one knew what to do; everyone was lost. Olivia suddenly glanced up. "We can't stay here for long she said."

"Why not?" asked Gabriel as everyone shifted anxiously.

"Because just as we left I made illusions of us running so Emma would fall for the baits." Olivia explained. "She just figured out that they were fake and she's coming right now."

Lysander looked at a dismayed Tancred. "Your pick, man."

Tancred didn't answer. Olivia was on her feet, looking around in the tree tops, bewildered. "She's coming, we have to move now!" she hissed. She was right; they could hear the distant wing flaps and the rustling of trees.

Everyone excluding Tancred staggered onto their feet. "Come on, Tanc!" Lysander urged, pulling at Tancred's arms.

"You guys go ahead." said Tancred dully. "I'll try to talk her out of it."

"No way!" Charlie protested. "You'd be dead in no time. She's going to burn you up!"

Tancred flashed a dangerous look. Charlie backed away. "But then again you could always talk her out of it, like you said."

Lysander looked at Tancred for a long time. "We have to go," Olivia hissed.

"Be careful," Lysander said to Tancred, who nodded.

The others dashed off to the forest, glancing back to see what might have happened.

Tancred was standing, glancing up. A breeze blew into his face, either of his own endowment or Emma's wings, no one could tell. It could be both for all they know.

Emma landed swiftly on the grass next to Tancred. He didn't flinch or look at her.

"Where are all of your friends?" she asked calmly.

"Gone," Tancred replied blankly.

"Why are you here?"

"I should ask the same to you."

Emma didn't reply. She walked around him in a circle. Her wings folded back , her eyes never left Tancred. "I asked you first, now tell me. Why do you remain?"

Tancred's eyes scanned the forest. He didn't want his friends to see; _he_ didn't even want to see. But his friends were right...

Emma slightly tensed. She halted, her wings unfolded, her hands tightened. Something in her mind told her that he wouldn't dare strike, because he liked her. He wasn't strong enough to strike down his own crush.

Her head pounded. She could feel the blood rushing in her head and throughout her own body. Wind picked up, whirling around the two. Emma ignored the voice in her head and flew upwards. She told herself that it was possible. She winced slightly as she laid her eyes on Tancred again.

He was staring at the ground.

Her hands erupted in blue flames. She held her hands up high, aiming.

A tiny sense in Emma's head wanted to scream and lash around. It told her that this wasn't right. Emma hesitated in striking her self. She lowered her hand and allowed her mind to wander. Why was she doing this?

_Because my master said so. _A voice said firmly.

_Why though? It's not as if they did anything bad. _Emma thought, slowly regaining her senses.

A sharp pain exploded and she gasped, holding her head. The little voice went away and she cleared her head, blinking.

Tancred glanced up. Emma's gaze finally focused and she was watching him. Tancred gulped, slightly shaking. "I'm sorry Em," he muttered. As Emma flew closer, he moved. A bright instant streak of white-blue erupted from his finger tips and they zig zaged towards Emma. She screamed, her wings withdrawing and vanishing from her back as soon as the lightning hit her.

She no longer had the monstrous look. Her clothes was back as her school uniform, her nails were back to normal, _she_ was back to normal...

Tancred watched in terror as Emma's body slammed into the ground limply. "_Emma_!"

He ran to her body and slid down next to her. She was laying on her side and when Tancred turned her over, his heart sank and his world crashed.

There was a horrible dark red wound on Emma's chest. Her skin was red and bloody, her shirt was singed and her face was paling. Stunned and feeling like he had gotten stabbed in the heart, he got lightheaded. Was this really happening to him?

"Emma, wake up!" Tancred urged, feeling her forehead. He deeply regretted shooting her. He knew that this might happen, but the others were so sure... He glanced around. No one was here. The wind whippped around him and thunder sounded, dark rain clouds quickly rolling in.

Emma's eyes fluttered open as a rain drop landed on her face. She uttered a gasp, followed by several shaking breaths. "Tancred," she whispered in pain, her eyes watering.

"I'm so sorry Em," he whispered, his whole body shook. The rain falling rapidly, quickly getting heavier. His hair was clinging to his scalp, just like the time he had tried to strike Elijah. He wished that it was Elijah that was hit, not Emma. "I had no choice. You were possessed. You were too dangerous, I had to do something..."

Emma choked, "I'm dying, aren't I?" Her hair was wet now, tangled and dirty, blades of grass and smudges of wet clumps of dirt littering it.

Tancred shook his head violently. Tears, to his horror, were starting to roll. Emma couldn't die, and he won't ever forgive himself if he did end up killing her. "You're going to be okay, you're going to live. Emma, Emma? Don't you dare close those eyes. Look at me,"

Emma's eyes were starting to get heavy. The pain in her chest was starting to fade away. Her heart pounded. It was all she could hear besides Tancred's anguish. She didn't want to die either, not without telling him.

"Tancred," she said weakly. Her fingers grew numb. Her eyes slid out of focus many times. Blood leaked onto the ground, staining the grass and Tancred's clothes. Tancred grasped her hand and held it tight as if he was afraid of losing her. "I'm so sorry about everything. I was a fool for trusting him. He was the one who did this to me."

"I know he was the one." said Tancred. He didn't ever think that this was the way she died. He went ahead and let his tears roll out of his eyes. This couldn't be happening. This is a nightmare, this isn't real. This couldn't be. It was too surreal.

Then again, everything was surreal to him.

Emma's heart raced. Her time was almost up. She had a few precious seconds left. _So this is it..._

"Tell everyone that I love them." she murmured softly.

"They know, but I'll tell them. I'll tell them." Tancred heard himself say. His voice was cracking, his palm was sweaty for grabbing Emma's hand so tight.

"And Tancred?"

Emma gulped. Tancred had to tell her before she leaves. However, he had to listen to her last words.

"I love you..."

Tancred perked. "I love you too..." he murmured, somewhat relieved that she knew. He gulped. It was happening. He killed her. There was no reversing it. The damage has been done.

Emma gave him a slight smile and breathed in her last breath and then she died.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

Tancred stared at Emma's dead face. So that was it. She's gone. No more cheery faces or little soft laughs or anything.

_Emma Tolly was killed by Tancred Torsson._

The tears went away. He didn't know why. He had been shocked so badly that it numbed everything he did. Emma's face was still beautiful, even if she was dead. Her eyes were open. They had a milky look to them, her blue eyes...they looked far away and empty. There was no life in them. With shaking hands, Tancred slowly reached out and closed them, leaving blood on her eyelids. He looked at his hands. They were red with her blood.

Then that's when the tears exploded. His heart will never heal, and no girl will ever replace Emma. Shaken, he reached out and felt Emma's cheeks. They were still warm, but he knew that they'll grow cold within the day. He gulped and lowered his head in deep remorse, tears falling form his cheek and onto Emma's face.

"_Tancred!_"

Tancred didn't look up. He heard his friends emerging from the forest. He heard Olivia's devastating scream and soon she was by him, uselessly shaking Emma's shoulders as if she could wake up. She utter sobs and cries mournfully. "Emma...Emma..." she kept crying, repeating her name over and over. Unlike Tancred, she let it all out. She laid across Emma's stomach, her face buried in Emma's soiled cape.

The others came closer, devastated. Lysander's face was stained with silent tears. He sat by Tancred, his chest quickly expanding and deflating in between breaths and cries.

Charlie, Billy, everyone. They were all affected; cries and sobs, disbelief on their faces and holding each other in misery. The danger may be over for now, but Tancred knew that everyone rather be attacked than losing a friend.

"You struck her, didn't you?" Olivia sobbed, her voice muffled. She didn't raise her head.

Tancred didn't answer; he didn't have to answer. From the wounds, it was obviously Emma was struck. His eyes were red and they hurt from the crying. He never remembered crying really. The last time he cried he was at his grandfather's funeral. And that was when he was seven.

"Well, I'm so sorry for your lost but crying won't help." said a drawling voice.

Tancred recognized it and angrily stood up, spinning around. Elijah was leaning against a tree, his face wearing a slight smirk.

"You..."

"Yes me," said Elijah calmly. He looked at Emma's body. He clicked his tongue. "That's a shame, oh well, at least all of you are hurt. I say she did a decent job." He didn't even sound regretful. His voice was in a tone that said, 'Oh well, I could always get another person to do all of my dirty work...'

Tancred leaped up and barked, "Listen to yourself! Look what you're doing! You're not yourself!" He understood now. It wasn't really Elijah who did it...it was the Bloor's that made him. The Bloor's were responsible for all of this. If it wasn't for them, Elijah wouldn't have been such a monster, Tancred wouldn't have to hit Emma in the first place, Emma wouldn't have to die...

Elijah shook his head. "No, it really is me." He held out his arms, presenting himself. "Hi there, I'm Elijah Rowan."

"Snap out of it," Tancred scoffed. "Right now, snap out of it."

Lysander tried to pull Tancred down, shooting a nervous glance at the others who watched anxiously. "What are you talking about, Tanc?"

Tancred jerked his arm out of Lysander's grip and took several steps forward. The air suddenly chilled and the sky was a miserable gray. "I know that you're in there somewhere." Tancred breathed. "You're not yourself..." Everyone knew that when Tancred was angry, there would be a blast of cold air. But the air was just cold. Where's the 'blast' part? And was this one of the moments where a 'sprite' will occur? One of those dangerous red lightning that occurred (according to Lysander) in the upper atmosphere?

Elijah shook his head. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about Torsson. All I know is that Emma's dead, you're brokenhearted, and you'll never live happily ever after."

Lightning flickered but Elijah didn't grimace. Thunder rolled and everyone but Elijah and Tancred's hands flew up to their ears. The thunder felt like it shook the ground. Lysander knew that this was indeed, very bad.

"What are you going to do about it?" Elijah said softly.

Tancred narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing? So you have nothing worth living for...so why don't you just..._die_?"

Charlie couldn't believe it but he could have sworn that Tancred's eyes flashed furiously and he lunged, running full speed at Elijah. He watched as Tancred's hands shot out lightning at Elijah. Elijah, with inhuman speed, ducked, allowing the lightning to collide with the tree.

He ran into the forest, with Tancred after him, shooting out more bolts and curses.

Tancred heard the yells and screams from the others, telling him to stop, but his heart didn't listen. He was on the warpath; this was it. It was now or _never_.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

Angered and desperate, Tancred raced after Elijah, who bolted deep into the trees. He gasped a quick 'Whoa!' when a streak of red blasted his way. Jumping to the right and clumsily getting back on his feet. He sent a lightning bolt Elijah's way and several winds accompanied him.

Breathing hard, he picked up the pace, his eyes blurred by the angry tears. Bright blue flashes and dark red blurs filled his eyes and he could barely see what he was doing, not to mention where he was going.

He blinked hard and his eyes focused once more. He had fallen behind. Astonished, he leaned forward and forced his legs to go faster.

Tancred could see the figure of Elijah, running, jumping, laughing. He could hear the laughs, he can hear the steps. Reality left him at a dead end. But if left Emma an even deader end.

Like something powerful was controlling his body, and luckily it didn't feel like it was Elijah, Tancred preceded to shoot out furious streaks of blue and red, tinged with purple. He wasn't thinking properly, but he felt like it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore, not to him. The surge of the electricity made him quiver with every step that he took.

He was gaining speed, and Elijah seemed closer. Blurs of yellow and green shot at him in an instant and Tancred narrowly dodged them. He wasn't sure if that even happened.

The chase ended up by the ruins. The trees were more spread out and the room was more spacious. Tancred quickly shot a bolt at Elijah, who deflected it in a way. He tried again, this time with more ferocity. He ducked and the bolt ended up scorching the wall, crumbling within seconds.

"You seem angry." Elijah said coolly, ceasing his steps. He smugly watched Tancred, who was bloody, sweaty, and his heart full of loathing.

Tancred could feel his blood boil. It wasn't a feeling he liked. In frustration, he sent a powerful bolt in Elijah's direction. Elijah didn't move at all. The lightning, when it's just a few inches away, didn't either. The bolt seemed to be dancing around Elijah, not touching him.

"Yea, I think you're angry."

Was that all he can say? How on earth could he be so calm?

Of course...that's not him.

* * *

Lysander ran after them, trying to catch up but the two boys seem to be increasingly fast. It was surreal. "Tancred!" he yelled, bright flashes of light lighting up the forest in a matter of seconds.

"TANCRED!"

Tancred didn't seem to hear his voice. Soon, Lysander lost sight of them for they were quickly disappearing into the thicket of trees.

"Tancred!" he cried again, pacing nervously around, his eyes darting from one place to another.

He caught a glimpse of a distant red flash to his right and a shout. "Tanc!"

Picking up the pace and running directly towards the lights, Lysander preceded to call out Tancred's name over and over.

He knew that he was falling apart when drum beats pounded in his head like mad. The sounds were loud enough to make his whole body vibrate and cause his mind to go into a frenzy; everything was fuzzy. He had no idea what he was doing, he had no idea at all. "_TANCRED_!"

He neared the ruins, where the boys finally stopped chasing. Elijah had webby blue streaks of light flickering merely around him in a ring. _How was that possible? _Lysander thought, bewildered.

Tancred had a look of astonish. "What the-"

A sudden blinding white flash threw Lysander backwards, shielding his eyes from the harmful brightness. The flash was gone in a heartbeat. It had happened, but he wasn't sure if he could trust his eyes. But they were definitely in pain; watering and puffy.

A choking sound aroused him and drum beats disappeared. He turned around quickly and found a small troop of his ancestors standing in a line, spears pointing at Elijah, who didn't look like himself anymore.

Or, he didn't look like the one who had done the things that had happened just now.

Tancred was lying on the floor, blood strewn on the ground and on his chest, where a dark red wound (much like Emma's but even more gruesome) was. "TANC!"

Lysander's deafening scream was horrific. He ran out, not caring if he would be a target, and knelt by Tancred's side, bloodying his pants. Tancred look silent...and gray. Little life remained in his eyes.

"What have I done...?" a small voice said, shaking.

Lysander looked up. He wasn't sure what he was seeing. The tears in his eyes were making things look blurry, fuzzy, completely unrecognizable.

"My endowment...it was my endowment..." Elijah was saying, wearing a look like the look he had on the first time they met: fear.

"What happened?" Lysander demanded.

The spirits of his ancestors shifted slightly.

"It was the Bloor's..." Elijah said, choking. "They tricked me...but it wasn't all them. It was me...my endowment...my mind...my fault."

Getting what he was talking about, Lysander said in a half sob and half choking voice, "Well don't just stand there..._do _something..."

"Sander..." a weak and frail voice murmured. Tancred's voice seem distant and far, as if life was slipping away from his lips.

"Tanc!"

"Elijah...c'mere..."

Lysander gulped and nodded to Elijah. If Tancred asked for him, then he will let it happen. It was his wish. Maybe his dying wish.

Elijah crept closer, his tear stained face made it harder to look at him. It was a sad and sorrowful thought.

"What happened...just now?" Tancred whispered hoarsely, cringing with pain.

"I remember now..." Elijah coughed. It seemed to be unreal to him too. "The old man...he cast a curse on me so...I can't control it. Wanted me to attack...I didn't know. I remember he cast a curse on me...that made me...unable to fight it...I remember my mind...my real self...trying to find a way out...I couldn't...my fault...I'm weak. Don't know why it broke...maybe because friendship...maybe because of..." Elijah wasn't able to finish his sentence. He shook insanely, and Lysander can't blame him.

The ancestors faded, maybe they sensed that there was no danger.

"Emma..."

Lysander and Elijah glanced down at the storm boy's sudden remark. "Emma's gone Tancred..." said Lysander quietly.

Elijah made a funny noise and covered his mouth. "Another one..." he seemed to mutter.

"One more time." said Tancred. "I want to see...her for the last time..."

Lysander bit his lips. "Okay..." he said softly. He stood up, blinking away the tears and said to Elijah, "Grab his legs, but carefully. We better hurry..."

Elijah wordlessly obeyed and lifted Tancred's legs, carrying them by the knee as Lysander hesitantly lifted Tancred's upper body up. Tancred closed his eyes and winced painfully as they moved him, breathing short and rapid breaths.

A long ten minutes passed and Tancred was looking rather dead. They reached the lake and found the others sitting where they were: next to Emma.

The sky was a gold bronze, for the sun was setting. A slight gentle wind blew, but it died quickly. Was it a sign that the storm boy will die soon? The October day was nearly over. Gold leaves rustled and the lake was still. Nothing was moving but Lysander, Elijah, and Tancred, who barely moved at all.

When the others saw Elijah, they let out an alarmed cry and stood up, automatically standing in front of Emma as if he could do more harm, although she had already left.

"He's good..." Lysander choked. Simply by his words, they relaxed, ready to believe anything, but when they saw Tancred, they froze, all thinking the same thing: _Is this real?_

Lysander and Elijah carefully placed Tancred down next to Emma's body. Her eyes were closed, her lips were dead; everything was dead.

But she was still stunning.

"Emma..." Tancred slowly slid his hand into her hands. They were cold and empty. He held it tightly.

Olivia burst out in renewed tears, and Charlie leaned forward and embraced her with his left arm, biting his lips. Everything was not happening. This is not happening. If it was, then why them?

Lysander was breathing hard, his heart beating hard and insanity was nearly dawning on him.

Elijah was awfully horrified. Angst, fear, everything...mentally, he thought that the world would be better if he had not lived. If he wasn't alive, this...all of these people here...their lives would have been a happy one. And he ruined it.

"Emma..." Tancred murmured over and over. "I have been a jerk...I was so stupid..." he gave a shaking laugh. "And now look where we are..."

Charlie looked up into the sky. The sun was slowly withdrawing from their view. Night was approaching, and it had gotten much colder.

"I know I'm dying."

Everyone looked at Tancred, who gulped.

"And I have to say this quickly, before it's too late."

He winced. The wound seemed to be taking most of his energy. Lysander leaned forward. "Are you okay?"

Tancred gave a small nod. "I'm fine." Lysander reluctantly sat back, but he looked away. It was difficult...very difficult... to see what was becoming of your best friend.

Tancred's gaze rested on Emma. "I really like you. More than a friend. I was jealous that you were spending more...and more time with Elijah..."

Elijah bowed his head and covered it with his hands.

"I was jealous...and became a jerk. All because I liked you...and I was afraid...that you wouldn't like me back." Tancred continued, his voice softening. "If I saw...that this is what would happen...I wouldn't have done that. If I knew I would have to...kill you, I would not believe it. Now that it's true...there's no turning back."

There was a silence. The world seemed to be listening to the dying words. Everything in nature seemed to stop, just to hear his words.

"Emma...sweet Emma..." Tancred murmured hurriedly. "I'm hoping that I'd see you in a few minutes."

The clouds above seemed very fluffy...

Charlie glanced up and his eyes was not believing what he just saw. It was snowing.

Olivia looked up. "Snowing...in October?" she gasped.

Everyone looked up except for Elijah and Tancred. Tancred was looking at Emma and Elijah never lifted his head from his arms.

"Is that a sign?" Gabriel choked.

"It's Emma..." Lysander whispered. "She's listening..."

Tancred gave Emma's body a smile. "Emma. I was scared of dying. I'm scared to leave everyone. Mom and dad...I'm afraid of leaving them...but now that I know...that you're there waiting for me...I'm not scared anymore."

He took a deep breath, perhaps thinking that he would never breathe again. "Emma, there are two words that I've been wanting to say..." He took another breath, but more smoothly. Everyone knew that this would be the last breath Tancred Torsson will ever take.

"I'm sorry..."

It was a mere whisper, but everyone heard it. Tancred's eyes closed and his hand that held Emma's fell to the ground.

And Death took its toll...


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

It was raining.

Dark rain clouds had developed a few days ago, when Mr. Torsson had found that his son was dead yet again.

The Flames could not revive the two. Tancred was not able to revive because of the power of the shot: it was dark magic, the kind of magic that was impossible to break. Emma, because of her form she had taken on when the shot that took her life. No one really understood that, and they probably will never understand.

Charlie sulkily made his way up the slope, holding an umbrella . He wore a black suit and a blue tie, because Emma and Tancred's eyes were blue.

His mother, Amy Bone was on his left, clutching to his aching arm. They were in bandages, yes, but he didn't say anything about it. He knew that his mother would cling to him after this. She had a black dress on, and several tears sliding down her cheek.

His father, Lyell Bone, was on his right, silently walking through the wet ground with his hands in his pockets and his face bowed. He and Charlie matched, that is, if they were the same height.

Charlie glanced over at Olivia and her mom. Olivia was clinging to Mrs. Vertigo, a handkerchief in hand. She would blow her nose between cries of anguish. Olivia Vertigo, known for her colorful attires, was only dressed in black. Very simple, very plain.

Gabriel and Lysander were on Charlie's right, just a couple of paces ahead. Their families, The Sages and the Silks, were close to the Torssons, for they lived in the same area. Gabriel had his head bowed, just like Mr. Bone, and his three sisters followed him, exchanging sad glances.

Lysander was broody all of the sudden: He never seemed to smile. He never laughed, nor joke, or even look up. His family were devastated when they found out what had happened. They were even more inconsolable when they found out that Emma Tolly had too died.

And it didn't make it better that they found that Tancred was the reason for her death. But they knew the whole story.

Billy was with Charlie, and he was crying, like Olivia. Charlie, feeling sad, reached out and grabbed the small boy's hand.

Uncle Paton was with Miss Ingledew, who was one of the loudest. "I lost her once and I lost her again..." she was wailing.

Mrs. Torsson was also like Miss Ingledew. The two women were next to each other and they held on to each other, because they were the female figures in Emma and Tancred's lives, Mrs. Torsson as a mother and Miss Ingledew as a guardian.

Mr. Torsson was walking gloomily by her. The Flames paced behind him because they were trying to keep his endowment from getting out of hand. Charlie thought that was smart, but it must be frustrating not to let out all of your anger.

Fidelio and his large family came as well. The Gunns, a very happy family, weren't very happy now. No singing, no instruments, no music=no joy.

They arrived at the top of the hill where a cypress tree was rooted at with two headstones at the base.

**Emma Tolly**

Birthday: June 20 1992

Deathday: October 11 2004

_A wonderful friend, superb _

_artist, and an amazing tolroc. _

**Tancred Torsson**

Birthday: March 26 1991

Deathday: October 11 2004

_A fun loving person, a wonderful_

_joker, and a creator of the breeze._

Charlie almost uttered a cry when he finished reading it. It was too much.

The adults left their children and rounded up around the graves, talking about memories. The children found it too endearing and mournful so they wandered off, thinking, talking with a few friends, crying.

Charlie went over to Lysander, who was standing by himself, looking out towards the city. The cemetery overlooked it, being high on the hills.

Charlie sighed and said, "Life changing, huh?"

Lysander didn't answer. He turned his head at Charlie to look at him. "Very," he finally said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Charlie said, "What ever happened to Elijah?"

Lysander frowned. "I don't know. The day they...left, that was the last time I saw him."

Charlie sighed. "You think he left the city? Maybe he fled. Can't blame him. I heard him say once that everywhere he went, he causes pain and grief to everyone there."

Lysander bowed his head. "Poor guy..."

"I feel bad for him. He was used as a puppet. And he's a good guy, you know, if his mind doesn't take over him."

Lysander grimaced. "That's kinda creepy."

"Yeah. I didn't know the Red King had that."

There was a small silence before Lysander said, "You think the king ever lost his mind?"

"Dunno..."

Thunder rolled and the two looked up. Charlie held his umbrella higher so Lysander wouldn't get wet anymore. The rain was awfully calm now. But then again everyone made crazy assumptions; no one trusted their eyes or ears anymore, at least, not yet.

"Do you know what I found in Emma's trash can?" Lysander said suddenly, hands in his pockets.

Charlie shook his head. "No. What did you find?"

Lysander glanced down at his pockets and pulled out a crumpled up piece of notebook paper and smoothed it out. He offered it to Charlie, who took it and made sure that the paper wouldn't get wet.

It was a piece of paper with a heart on it with an 'E' on the left and a 'T' on the right. And in the middle where a + sign should be was scribbled out and a question mark was jotted down above the scribble.

"This was in the trash?" Charlie inquired.

"Miss Ingledew actually found it." said Lysander. "She found it in Emma's trashcan in her room. She gave it to me..."

"Oh." Charlie took another look at the drawing and folded it up nicely and handed it back to Lysander, who pocketed it.

"Remember Sarah Hayden?" Lysander asked tonelessly.

"Yeah, she sits behind me in class." said Cahrlie.

"Remember what she asked you about the initials?"

"Er...if I know a boy whose initials are 'E.T''" said Charlie, tilting his head curiously. "Why?"

"I asked her why she was asking, and she told me she saw Em drawing that." said Lysander.

"The picture?"

"Yea..."

Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "Go on..."

"She asked almost everyone she knew and then rumors started to spread. She said that she told her friends that Emma was drawing it specifically, and one of them must have spilled. The whole school was trying to find out who had her initials."

"Yeah, I remember that." said Charlie. He remembered how they were asking everyone randomly about it, and Charlie found it annoying. "Rumors...look where rumors led us to."

"Well, when Elijah arrived at school, everyone was thinking that maybe that Emma knew him before, that she liked him. Everyone asked everyone."

Charlie nodded.

"That's when I realized that Tancred..." Lysander's voice trailed off. He cleared it as Charlie kindly waited patiently. "He was moodier. I knew he was jealous, but I..." He shook his head mournfully. "I didn't know he was _that_ jealous. I asked Sarah why she was asking around. She said, well...she just wanted to know."

"And then it got out of hand and Elijah, or the Bloors, whatever, took advantage of that..." Lysander gulped.

Charlie nodded dumbly. Out of all of their plans, this was the worst.

The two were silent. The rain stopped slowly and the sky cleared. Either the Flames are doing a better job about containing Mr. Torsson's endowment in line or Emma and Tancred were looking down on them.

Charlie prefer to believe in the second one.

Birds chirped and a warm welcoming wind breezed through them. A few rays of light penetrated through the fluffy clouds. They seemed whiter than they were a few minutes ago.

"I think they're saying that everything's okay." a voice said softly from behind.

The two turned around and Olivia, and the rest of the endowed and Fidelio, stood behind them. Olivia looked a little better. At least she can finally put away her handkerchief. She stepped up next to Charlie, who lowered his umbrella, and slipped her hand into his, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"That should be backwards Liv," Charlie said softly, but he smiled at her, returning the squeeze. Gabriel and Fidelio stepped next to Lysander, Gabriel offering a hand to Lysander. Lysander looked hesitant but he smiled and grabbed his hand, and grabbed Charlie's hand as well.

One by one, they were all linked together, friend to friend. The sun finally showed itself, shining brightly on them. The grass glistened with dew and the clouds near the sun were a nice cream and peach color. For some reason, the bird chirps were louder and the wind whipped around them, as if it was toying with them.

"That's them alright..." Charlie said softly as Olivia laid her head on his shoulder. "That's them."


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

_Dear Emma and Tancred_

_This will be the fourth time I lay a letter on your graves. It's been four years exactly when you guys left us. _

_Things are a little touchy now. As you know, Lysander is brooding like he does every year. And no Tancred, he hasn't found a new best friend. He doesn't want one. This is a little strange you know. Not the 'finding a new best friend' thing. I mean that one day he's all happy and cheerful and then all of the sudden, a few days before your death day, he's quiet and well reserved. He told me that this year you guys will graduate. He told me that when you guys started Bloor's you made a pact to graduate together._

_I think he just realized you broke it._

_Olivia just cracked. She's still a brilliant actress, but she just cried a few minutes ago in the King's Room. Manfred is still here, and he still doesn't have a girlfriend. Tancred, I knew that you might question me about that. Emma, Olivia is going crazy. She misses you, we all miss you. And we miss you too Tancred. Life is almost fake to me._

_Em, your aunt and my uncle (or Great uncle) married this year. Just thought you'd like to know what ever happened to your aunt. But around this day, she's tense and stressful. I think everyone is. _

_Tanc, your parents are quiet. Your dad isn't making violent storms anymore, due to last year's accident with the trees and raccoons and stuff. I think you guys remember that. Who couldn't? The city won't._

_We're doing much better than the last few years. We don't cry much, unless we really think about it but we always try to stay away from deep thinking whenever we felt like it. It keeps us okay. Keeps us...sane you could say. _

_No, we never did hear from Elijah. Again, the last we saw him was the day you guys died. Remember from my first letter? When we brought your bodies back to school and there was screaming, crying, and shocked looks. Elijah helped but after we set you down, he walked away. He never __looked back. He just left without saying anything._

_I just hope he's okay._

_The Bloor's are still not in trouble about this. Yeah, we're all angry about that so we try to give them Hell. The rest of the school is having fun doing that. _

_Emma, Tancred, I really miss you guys. You've heard me say this a lot but I really do. Do you feel the same way, you know, miss all of us? _

_I guess not. We're all alone, aren't we? Winds will carry on and birds will still soar..._

_But just without you two._

_Your life long friend, Charlie Bone_


End file.
